Atlantic City, located within New Jersey is often referred to as the ‘Vegas of the East Coast’. It is well-known globally as a gambler’s paradise and is seeing its reputation continue to grow. The casinos here continue to draw tourists in their millions each year, playing popular games like roulette and blackjack; and is also a great place for sightseeing. There is the famous boardwalk which is very pleasant to take a stroll down, which contains many restaurants and amusements. The city also contains several fine golf courses in addition to beautiful local beaches, alongside the twelve casinos visitors have to choose from.
Recent figures released by the state of New Jersey have shown that profits for Atlantic City have massively increased during 2017. It is believed that less competition has led to higher profits within the casinos. The seven casinos based there saw their gross profit increase by 22% to $723 million. This is good news for the city in which five of it’s casinos have closed since 2015 and in which the net gaming revenue has increased by 5% over the last year, to reach more than $2.67 billion. Plus one cannot forget the business generated from casinos like Party Casino, who have also contributed the positive trend.
It is believed that the resurgence of Atlantic City has been aided massively by the Tropicana Casino and Resort there, who posted a 71% year on year increase in annual gross operating profit. This saw their profits rise to $91.92 million. The Tropicana has seen massive success over the past year and possesses a 2,100 room hotel.
This period of rediscovery for Atlantic City has also benefited others and not just the Tropicana Casino and Resort. The only casino based at the resort which reported a decline in it’s gross operating profit was Harrah’s, which saw a drop of 2.7%. The casino which saw the highest profit was the Borgata at $292 million, which is a 19.5% increase on 2016.
The chairman of the Casino Control Commission, James Plousis, commented that the numbers demonstrate the health of the casino industry within Atlantic City at present, with all casinos seeing an increase in revenues, as well as increases in the room occupancy rates of the hotels. Plousis also discussed how the casino industry in Atlantic City is on the verge of expansion, which is set to create new attractions and therefore additional numbers of visitors.
It will be interesting to see if profit levels of existing casinos can continue with the imminent arrival of two new casinos. Two previously closed casinos have had revamps and are set to reopen this summer. The former Trump Taj Mahal is reopening as Hard Rock and the former Revel is set to become the Ocean Resort. Plousis believes that even though these additions may put pressure on the current occupants of Atlantic City, they are now present in an industry that is well positioned to deal with new competition and the whole market should thrive as a result.