Atlantic City’s eight surviving casinos continue to show signs of health, with only one gaming venue posting a year-on-year revenue decline in July
Total brick-and-mortar gaming revenue in the seaside casino hub rose 7.1% to $245m in July. Factoring in contributions from the casinos that have closed since July 2014, the revenue figure would be down 7.3%. Neither figure includes the $12.5m in online gambling revenue New Jersey’s licensed operators earned in July.
The Borgata not only led the elite eight in revenue generation at $71.8m, it also posted the month’s largest gain, rising 19.2% year-on-year. By comparison, second-place finisher Harrah’s was up a mere 1.5% to $36.1m.
The Tropicana upended the traditional rankings by knocking Caesars Atlantic City into fourth place. The Tropicana rose 5.2% to just under $29.2m, while Caesars rose 3.1% to $29m.
Bally’s was flat at $22.8m, while the Golden Nugget rose 10.4% to $20.1m. The troubled Trump Taj Mahal posted the month’s only revenue fall, slipping 11.8% to $19.1m, while Resorts Casino Hotel rounded out the chart up 16.9% to $16.8m.
While most of AC’s casinos may be on the ups, the city itself took another shot to the gut last week after Wall Street ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the city’s general obligation debt by three notches – from ‘BB” to “B” – over continued uncertainty regarding the city’s fiscal rescue plan.
Standard & Poor’s analyst Timothy Little said the downgrade “reflects our view that the city is more vulnerable to nonpayment since our last review given that three months have passed without additional clarity on how the city will propose to resolve its long-term financial challenges.” The agency expressed concern over city planners’ “ability to execute structural reforms that could weaken the city’s finances further.”
