Regulated sports betting cannot come soon enough for the casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey. For the month of May 2018, the boardwalk casinos reported that revenue was down a full five percent of the previous year. In fact, if it weren’t for internet gambling, Atlantic City would have almost no good new in its revenue figures for last month.
Overall, the land-based casinos of Atlantic City generated $217.7 million in revenue for the month. While that sounds like a lot of cash, it really isn’t much to write home about. That said, the number is considered to be a major improvement over April’s number, which clocked in at $214.4 million.
At the heart of these anemic numbers is a table game sector that was weak to start with and took a genuine beating in May. “Somebody was lucky in May, but it wasn’t the casinos,” James Plousis, chairman of the Casino Control Commission, told the Press of Atlantic City.
Christopher Glaum, deputy chief of financial investigations for the state Division of Gaming Enforcement commnented on the lousy month of May saying:
While slot machine win and internet win were up for the month, table game win was down due largely to a lower win percentage. Last May, the industry had an unusually high win percentage, at close to 20 percent, and this year was more normal, at around 16 percent.
One bright spot for AC was the continued success of New Jersey’s online gambling sector. For the month, igaming sites generated $24.3 million in revenue, an increase of more than 15 percent over the previous year.
In short, now is definitely a good time for Atlantic City casinos to be offering something new, like sports betting, that can breath fresh air into their very stale market.