Atlantic City casino revenue fell 10% in January

During one of the coldest months in US history, Atlantic City casino revenue also felt the chill, dropping 10 per cent year-on-year.

US.- As heavy blizzards struck the US east coast and Atlantic City, casinos felt the cold as their revenue fell by 9.9 per cent in January. The US$184.3 million raked during the first month of the year were down compared to last year’s reports, with the Golden Nugget the only venue to post a revenue increase (1.7 per cent).

James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, blamed the cold and said: “What a difference a blizzard makes. When people are stuck in their homes by more than a foot of snow and temperatures are dipping into single digits, they don’t come to Atlantic City. So, it comes as no surprise that casino revenues were down last month.”

While the Golden Nugget posted better revenue this year, Caesars suffered the largest monthly decline, down 23 per cent to US$21.7 million, followed by Harrah’s 16.3 per cent decrease to US$23.5 million. Borgata was down 10.2 per cent to US$57.7 million, Bally’s 8.8 per cent to US$12.7 million, Resorts 6 per cent to US$11.6 million and Tropicana 4.4 per cent to US$26.1 million.

According to Christopher Glaum, the chief of financial investigations for the gaming enforcement division, regulators don’t believe the slow start will continue during the rest of the year, particularly with the planned summer re-opening of Hard Rock (formerly Trump Taj Mahal) and the Ocean Resort Casino ex-Revel.