Atlantic City Casinos Report Q3 Profits Plunge

The news was not encouraging for Atlantic City’s nine casinos after it was reported they averaged nearly 14% less in profits in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same period a year ago.

Boardwalk Blues

New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement reported that the nine Boardwalk casinos had a combined gross operating profit of $236.5 million in the third quarter, a 13.8% decrease from Q3 2023. Some industry pundits have speculated that the residual effects of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people spend their time and discretionary income. Others argue that the increase in popularity of online gambling has put a chill on the in-person casino market.

James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, said: “pressure from continuing high costs can be seen in lower profits compared to the same period last year.”

What Happened?

A dearth of events in and around Atlantic City likely hurt tourism this past summer. Air shows and large concerts often attract throngs of people who eventually migrate into the casinos. However, those events were not present during the summer months, and that had a discernible and deleterious effect on the casinos’ foot traffic.

“Consumer demand may have been an issue for Atlantic City’s casino operators in summer 2024,” said Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, which studies the Atlantic City gambling industry.

Rise of iGaming

New Jersey is one of only seven states offering online casino gaming, known as iGaming. Garden State residents can wager on slots or table games from their PC or mobile devices without having to travel to the Boardwalk to do so.

Although it can be argued there is no replacement for the excitement and experience of a Las Vegas-style casino, convenience is a powerful counterargument, and it is one that has troubled the Boardwalk casino operators.

Although all the casinos earn money from iGaming revenue in New Jersey, they must share those profits with third-party platform providers, unlike the revenues from in-person gaming, which they keep to themselves. Therefore, the surge in iGaming popularity is not welcome news for the land-based casino operators, despite some of those profits being realized on their bottom lines.

Borgata Wins Popularity Contest

The Borgata, an MGM property, reported the highest operating profit of all the Atlantic City casinos at $60 million. It should be noted that although it was the most profitable casino, the numbers reflected a nearly 18% decrease from the same time last year.

The Hard Rock posted a $45.4 million profit, up 2.4%, and was only one of two casinos that showed a year-over-year increase, with the other being Caesars.

Ocean showed revenues of $36.5 million, a decrease of 15.3%, while the Tropicana earned $30.5 million, down almost 17% from last year.

Caesars revealed profits of $23.5 million, an increase of 11.2%, the highest of any casino. Harrah’s came next in the profit-pecking order at $22.6 million, down nearly 25%. 

Bally’s ($6.5 million, down nearly 11%), Golden Nugget ($6.2 million, down nearly 44%), and Resorts ($4.9 million, down 32.6%) rounded out the bottom three, with the latter two experiencing the lowest earnings and steepest year-over-year decreases.