New Jersey Casino Results Rally in January 2021

Bolstered by cautious optimism about the future and surging Internet gaming, results in Atlantic City’s nine casinos improved in January.

Results in Atlantic City’s Casinos Improve in January

New Jersey’s results for January continued their rally, with results across Atlantic City’s nine casino properties reporting 9.3% higher numbers. Results in January were bolstered by the surging interest for online gambling and interactive sports betting, and not least Super Bowl activity, which helped the city prop up its ailing results, figures posted on Wednesday revealed.

While online gambling was a welcome aid, overall in-person gambler numbers fell by 16.7% comparing results year-over-year. While many expected January to break sports betting record handles, the Garden State actually posted only $958.7 million. That was down from the $996 million in December.

Combining both Internet and sports gambling, casinos posted $295.7 million in revenue during the first month of the year. Factoring in the horse racing tracks in the state, though, revenue increased to $346.4 million during the month.

Not all casinos had it too badly with on-site gambler. Hard Rock reported that in-person casino revenue has increased by at least 24% in the first month, and overall, gambling has contributed for a grand total of $33.8 million, or up 40%.

The casino’s president, Joe Lupo, said that Hard Rock Atlantic City had remained resilient in the face of the pandemic, managing to pull off a “remarkable 24% increase in casino revenue,” at a time when the city as a whole suffered a 17% decline, Lupo added.

A Semblance of Normalcy in AC’s Casino Industry

Hard Rock is the only casino in Atlantic City that has grown for four consecutive months, Lupo explained. New Jersey Casino Control Commission chair Jim Plousis explained that revenue was doing much better now.

Any negative comparisons stemmed from putting this year’s numbers against January 2020, which was the period before the pandemic, he explained. Nevertheless, he expressed cautious optimism. Casinos have been hard at work to ensure the safety of staff members and visitors, and Atlantic City was ready to welcome even more people.

Another property to post a significant improvement in January was the Ocean Casino. The casino collected $26 million or up 31.6%. Ocean CEO Terry Glebocki highlighted the company’s “high-limit slot experience” as one of the biggest pulls for players.

Borgata, which traditionally posts some of the best results, managed to pull in $75.4 million in total revenue, and still posting a 10.5% growth over the period. Golden Nugget has been restructuring its operations, posting the retail casinos separately from its newly-spun interactive division.

Interactive results for Golden Nugget Online went up to $31.3 million. Results for the in-person action shrinking by 33.2% and landing at $10.1 million in January. Caesars Interactive made good use of its online portfolio. The division posted an impressive 74.3% growth in January, but only to $7.3 million. Resorts Digital claimed $38.5 million in revenue, up 38.7%.

Recovery in New Jersey is still ongoing, but the latest results are reassuring. While some cautious scepticism is understandable, vaccination roll-out should lead to improving in-person results. Nevada already considers casino workers a priority group to restore the state’s economy.