ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s booming internet gambling market continues to break records. But most Atlantic City casinos are winning less from in-person gamblers than before the coronavirus pandemic.
Casinos and their online affiliates won more than $197 million from online casino games in March, setting another monthly record, data released Tuesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement showed.
While it’s not a record, sports betting took nearly $1.33 billion in bets in March, driven by the March Madness college basketball tournament. This is the fourth-highest amount since sports betting was legalized following a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a case filed in New Jersey.
Including live casino winnings, Internet gambling and sports betting revenue, casinos that accept sports bets, their online partners and racetracks won more than $526 million in March, an increase of 8.1% from March 2023.
But casinos’ key metric, the amount of money they win from live gamblers, continues to struggle. While the nine casinos won a combined $239 million from live gamblers, up nearly 5% from a year ago and slightly more than all nine casinos combined won before the pandemic hit in March 2019, the nine casinos Only two of them individually had more face-to-face interactions last month than before the coronavirus outbreak.
Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, which studies Atlantic City’s gambling market, said 2024 gross gaming revenue is off to a “good start” in the first three months of the year, up 11% from 2024. The same three months last year.
Casinos care most about money won in person because they get to keep all the money. In contrast, money won from online gambling or sports betting must be shared with outside parties.
Borgata’s personal bonus in March was US$56.5 million, a year-on-year decrease of 8.1%. Hard Rock won $44.3 million, up 11%; Ocean won $40.6 million, up 17.6%; Harrah’s won $21 million, up 2%, and Tropicana won $19.8 million, up 2.5%.
Caesars Personal won $18.5 million, up nearly 8%; Golden Nugget won $13.6 million, up 11.4%; Resorts won $13.4 million, up nearly 6%, and Bally’s won $11.7 million, up 11.2%.
If Internet and sports betting revenue is included, Borgata won $106.6 million, down 6.1% year over year; Nugget won $70.6 million, up 28.2%; Hard Rock won $58.3 million, up 17.2%; Ocean won nearly $48 million , up more than 21%, and Tropicana won $36 million, up 11.5%.
Harrah’s won $22.2 million, up 8%; Bally’s won $20.9 million, up 20.6%; Caesars won $18.7 million, up 10.2%, and resorts won $13.6 million, up 8.4%.
The casino’s online subsidiary, Resorts Digital, won $66.4 million, down 11 percent, and Caesars Interactive NJ won $6.4 million, down 23 percent.
After paying for winning bets and other fees, casinos and racetracks generated just under $90 million in sports betting revenue.
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