Is Atlantic City on The Up?
If you take a look back on Atlantic City's casino history, you are sure to see a turbulent one filled with news of once thriving casinos seeing somewhat catastrophic declines in their profits due to an economic downturn, not to mention the competition stemming from neighbouring states legalising gambling.
This ultimately forced many casinos to cease operations, with just 7 left in the popular Jersey Shore entertainment and gambling destination. However, promising developments have ensured that Atlantic City is looking at a promising rise in the future.
Good News for Atlantic City's Q1
The recently struggling casinos in Atlantic City have seen some considerably good news, with one of New Jersey's leading gambling regulators making a rather bold announcement that their casinos are expected to be healthy once again, and people are flocking to play their games.
The New Jersey Casino Control Commission's (NWCCC) chairmen, Matt Levinson, said this shortly after the Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) came forward with figures that ultimately showed that the gross operating profit across all 7 casinos increased by as much as 30.4% in the first quarter of this year in comparison to the first quarter of 2016.
Gambling Industry on the Rise
The aforementioned figures that were released by the state DGE were the most recent in a series of positive financial reports, after the well-known seaside gambling destination was first shaken by the fact that 5 of their 12 casinos had to be shut down since 2014.
It appears as though the remaining 7 have managed to regain their footing in a market that is a lot more slimmed down because of the dramatic decrease in close-by competition.
Doubts Laid to Rest
In the announcement that we previously mentioned, Levinson actually went on to say that those who had any doubts about the well-being of the casino industry in Atlantic City should rest assured that they would soon be laid to rest.
Levinson truly believes that the industry has reached a point of stability, essentially allowing operators to show far healthier bottom lines. In fact, he even makes mention of the fact that with summer now upon us there is a big chance that numerous festivals, concerts and other events will be a great help with regards to the growth of Atlantic City's casinos.
A casino's gross operating profit ultimately represents the earnings acquired before things like depreciation, taxes and other fees. This is generally the way in which casinos will measure their profitability in terms of the global gambling industry.
Atlantic City Casinos
While taking a quick look at the facts and figures that Atlantic City's casinos have produced over the last couple of months, we can see that the highest operating profit came from The Borgata at $61.4 million, which is an increase of close to 29% in comparison to last year's first quarter.
Harrah's, on the other hand, went down 11.3% from last year, with an operating profit of just $23.7 million, while Caesars went up by a more impressive 31.6% with an operating profit of $20.1 million this year. The Tropicana's profits may not be as high, but they have almost doubled their operating profits from last year, bringing in $16.2 million.
The establishments with lower profit percentages include The Golden Nugget at nearly $6.2 million (down 7.7% from last year), Bally's at $4.5 million profit (down 19.9%) and Resorts, which brought in $4 million, nearly 10 times their profit from 2016's first quarter.
Other Statistics
Along with online-only establishments, places like Caesars Interactive NJ saw a profit of $2.3 million and Resorts Digital made a profit of $570 000 after losing $1.1 million last year.
Lastly, resorts possessed the highest occupancy rate at 88.7% in terms of this year's first quarter and the Golden Nugget offered the lowest, sitting at 71.8%.
