Well, it was — after all — a gamble.
But now the data is in. Atlantic City casinos and their online partners took in about $120 million in revenue during its initial season of internet gambling.
That’s way short of the billion dollar behemoth New Jersey governor Chris Christie had bet his chips on.
The internet gambling launch was a gambit launched in 2013 in expectation that this option for gambling enthusiasts would pull the East Coast casino industry out of what has turned into a major downturn.
But revenue data released recently by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement shows that online play fell far short of grandiose expectations. Rather than a billion, the earnings came to about $119.5 million.
“Slots and table games revenue from brick-and-mortar casino operations was down during a rough November that underscored the impact of four casino closings on Atlantic City’s struggling market,” noted Press of Atlantic City. “Altogether, the casinos posted $202.5 million in total slots, table games and Internet revenue in November, off 10 percent from the $225.7 million they won a year ago, figures show.”
The problems are legion. In addition to the general economic slump, the industry lost the Atlantic Club, Showboat, Revel, and Trump Plaza casinos which all have been shuttered.
“Even the calendar conspired against the casinos,” explained Press. “This November had four Fridays, compared to five in November 2013, depriving the industry of a prime, money-making weekend day.”
True, some of the remaining casinos benefitted from increased revenues as they drew the former customers of now defunct casinos. That boosted the revenues of the Golden Nugget Atlantic City, Tropicana Casino and Resort, Resorts Casino Hotel, and Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, all of which posted gains in the double-digits.
Matthew Levinson, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, tried to paint a rosy picture by noting the gains of the eight remaining casinos. Collectively, their total revenue was up by 11.5 percent in November compared to last year. Levinson also said some of them had hired workers to handle new business.
“These results show that the market is absorbing the impact of recent casino closures and most of the current operators are improving,” Levinson said. “In addition, Internet gambling continues to provide an additional boost to several of the operators.”
All in all, however, it’s another wake up call for state governments that depend on gambling for an inordinate amount of revenues.
Ordinary Americans, it seems, are having a hard time generating revenue for themselves — and have increasingly little of it they’re willing to gamble away.
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