Atlantic City casino revenue up for second year

ATLANTIC CITY — In 2017, it was a very good year — for Atlantic City’s casinos.

They saw their gambling revenue increase for the second year in a row after a dismal decade in which five of the city’s 12 casinos shut down, eliminating 11,000 jobs.

Figures released Friday by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement show the seven casinos won $2.66 billion in 2017, an increase of 2.2 percent over 2016.

The city’s top casino, the Borgata, had its best year ever, and Atlantic City has a new No. 2 casino: the Tropicana, which survived a neardeath experience a decade ago and has been growing steadily and reinvesting

in itself since then.

“Every single casino won more, and every internet operation reported increased win last year,” said James Plousis, the new chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. “Total internet win had its fourth straight year of double-digit increases. It shows an industry that is getting stronger and healthier and well-positioned for the future.”

Christopher Glaum, deputy chief of financial investigations for the gaming enforcement division, noted that 2017 was the first year since 2006 that there was a year-over-year increase in gambling revenue at brick-and-mortar casinos, where the numbers were up 0.3 percent.

Analysts and industry executives are split on whether the market can handle the reintroduction of two new casinos without re-creating the casino glut that led to the shutdowns in the first place.

The casinos were helped greatly in 2017 by $245 million in internet gambling winnings, an increase of nearly 25 percent over 2016.

The Borgata won more than $800 million from gamblers last year, by far the most in the city. Its winnings were up 4.4 percent over last year.

The Tropicana, which was stripped of its casino license and on the verge of closing in 2007, shot up to the city’s No. 2 casino in 2017 with $390 million, an increase of 14.6 percent.

Harrah’s was next at $363 million, an increase of 1.6 percent, followed by Caesars at $325 million (up 7.6 percent), the Golden Nugget at $288 million (up 14.4 percent), Bally’s at $211 million (up 0.1 percent) and Resorts at $190 million (up 10 percent).

The Golden Nugget finished first in internet gambling revenue with $68.5 million. The Borgata, Caesars Interactive-nj, Resorts Digital and Tropicana were bunched closely behind, with online revenue ranging from $42.5 to $48.5 million.