Atlantic City casino revenues down
Gross revenues down 6% - casino-funded Atlantic City Express Service discontinued.
The New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety’s Division of Gaming Enforcement has reported a 6% decline in gross revenue for its 12 land-based casinos in February, with revenues for the year to date down 6.6%.
Gross revenues fell from US$258m in February 2011 to $243m, while gross revenues for the first two months of the year dropped to $480m from $514m. The decline was prompted by a fall in slot machine revenue, down 4.2% to $176.2m, and a 10.3% drop in table games revenues, which brought in $66.5m for the month.
The figures are the first to be announced since eGaming Review exclusively revealed that the state is looking to offer online gambling as soon as September, with Senator Raymond Lesniak expecting his bill to be passed by both houses this week and signed into law by Governor Chris Christie.
Under the terms of Lesniak’s bill, internet wagering will be authorised via Atlantic City’s 12 casinos, with licensed operators paying a 10% annual gross revenue tax, as well as a licence “insurance fee” and renewal fee, based on “cost of maintaining enforcement, control and regulation of internet wagering operations and shall be not less than $100,000.”
It has also been announced that the Atlantic City Express Service, a train taking customers directly from New York to Atlantic City, has been discontinued after three years. The service was established in February 2009 by Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City and the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, with the three casinos investing $19m to launch the service. A spokesman for Caesars told the Wall Street Post that the service “just didn’t work out.”