Atlantic City casinos post best summer in over a decade as August revenue climbs

Atlantic City casinos reported their strongest summer in over a decade, buoyed by rising in-person gambling and record internet play in August, according to state gaming regulators.

Figures from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) showed the nine casinos won $312 million in August from in-person gamblers, up 6.1% from a year earlier. Combined with internet and sports betting, total gaming revenue reached $642.2 million, a 15.7% annual increase.

From June through August, casinos won $855 million from in-person play, up 5.5% from last year and the best summer performance since 2012.

Online gambling also hit a new monthly record at $248 million, though brick-and-mortar properties outpaced internet play for the fourth straight month. Sports betting generated $778 million in wagers, with operators keeping nearly $82 million as revenue.

“We’re happy the market found some growth; it was a very good month,” said Mark Giannantonio, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey and Resorts Casino Hotel. “Hopefully it can be sustained into the fall and winter months. I’m very happy about it.”

James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, said August marked the casinos’ highest monthly win since 2012. “Atlantic City finished the summer strongly in August,” he said. “For the third time this year, New Jersey’s total gaming revenue surpassed $600 million in one month. Year-to-date, it surpassed $4.5 billion sooner than all prior years.”

Jane Bokunewicz, director of Stockton University’s Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism, called the results “a breath of fresh air for Atlantic City’s casino operators.” She added: “The peak summer season in Atlantic City seems to have reversed that trend, with June through August revenue at the slots and tables exceeding internet gaming revenue by more than $125 million.”

She noted the summer returns “gotten year-to-date revenues back on track after a slow start to the year. Operators will be facing fall and winter 2025 with a 2.8% year-over-year cushion, which is a stark contrast to August 2024 when operators lagged year-to-date August 2023 ($1.93 billion) by -0.2%.”

Borgata led the market in in-person gambling with $80.2 million in revenue, followed by Hard Rock at $58.3 million and Ocean Casino at $51.1 million. Bally’s and Golden Nugget were the only properties to post declines.

On the digital side, FanDuel (partnered with Golden Nugget) was the top performer at $57.1 million, up 38.2%, followed by DraftKings (Resorts) at $47 million and BetMGM (Borgata) at $32.5 million, up nearly 47%.