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Atlantic City’s 2020 Casino Revenues Are Down; Online Gambling & Sports Betting Are Going Strong

Article by : Helen Jan 20, 2021

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Updated: Apr 6, 2023

The beginning of the new year is a high time for rounding up the gaming industry’s financial performance results, and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement knows it too. The state regulator published its December 2020 report on January 13, with stats for both December and 2020 overall.

The last month of the year was still a successful one for the industry in general: December 2020 total gaming revenue amounted to $312.9 million, which is 8.9% more than in December 2019. The state budget collected $33.9 million in taxes imposed on that month’s total gaming revenues. The driving force behind this increase was, obviously, the rise of online gambling and sports wagering. Land-based casinos, on the other hand, saw a 29.5% drop in monthly revenues.

As for the 2020 results, the main takeaway is this: while the Atlantic City total gaming revenue in 2020 declined by 16.9% compared to the year before, internet gaming and sports wagering revenues skyrocketed by 101% and 33.1%, respectively. It is hardly a surprise: amidst the pandemic, stay-at-home orders and casino capacity limits meant more players seeking to switch to online casino alternatives.

In 2020, the gaming industry brought in $2.881 billion in revenues, which, in turn, allowed the state regulator to collect a total of 271 million in taxes – 38.3% less than in 2019 when the New Jersey budget pulled in $439.4 million in gaming taxes.

Casino revenues in 2020 saw a drop of 43.7% on a year-to-year comparison – from $2.7 billion in 2019 to $1.5 billion last year. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, however, stated in its report that, in their opinion, “In light of the casino closures between mid-March and July 2020, as well as the operating restrictions in place upon reopening in July through the month of December, Casino Win for the year-to-date period is not comparable to the 2019 period.”

The majority of the casino wins in 2020 is traditionally attributed to slot machines ($1.1 billion), while table games brought in the rest of the revenue ($424.4 million).

Among all the casino operators licensed to operate in the New Jersey state, Ocean Casino was the only one with a relatively low year-on-year drop in casino revenues (-14.9%). The rest reported decreases between 30.6% for Hard Rock to 52.4% for Borgata. Both of the examples, however, also offered online gambling services in 2020, which helped balance out the losses from forced closures and the capacity limit.

Online gambling is the definitive winner of the year: the sector’s revenues doubled in 2020, from $482.7 million in 2019 to $970.3 million. Caesars Interactive NJ and Resorts Digital, the state’s only companies specializing exclusively in online gambling, were also the lucky ones to end the year with a more than 70% year-on-year increase in revenues.

Golden Nugget that operates both land-based casinos and has its assets in the online gambling business, also managed to finish the year with a positive year-on-year change. As for sports wagering, it also saw a significant revenue increase compared to 2019: from $299.4 million to $398.5 million in 2020.

For now, Atlantic City casinos can welcome guests, but they are limited by the 25% capacity limit imposed back in June 2020. Other COVID-19-related reopening requirements – like cleaning and disinfecting and providing PPE (personal protective equipment) for casino employees – also mean additional expenses for adapting to the new reality, all while the revenues keep dropping.