February not a great month for Land-based casinos in Atlantic city! As mother nature brought frigid temperatures all over the East Coast in early February, the brick and mortar casinos reported its effect today.
Indeed, last February was cold, if you remember some parts of New Jersey received over 1 foot of snow. Not to mention, the heavy winds that got us all to stay in the comfort of our homes. But finally February is over, and now we can enjoy warmer days as spring begins. Except that it seems the February chill left more than bitter memories in some. In fact, it left a big hole in the land-based casino’s wallet as reported by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission (NJCCC).
Let’s look at the numbers into closer details.
There’s no doubt that the seasonality plays a big part in the offline casino industry. By now, many casinos have grown accustomed to a slow start of the year. But there’s a big difference between slow start and decrease in growth. Indeed, this February saw the brick and mortar casinos lose a 6.5% market share YOY. And that is despite the fact that the city’s seven casinos generated just over $192 million altogether.
J. Plousis, chairman at the NJCCC, commented on the report. “Business was off at virtually every casino. I am hopeful that casinos can turn this around and start expanding the market as we move into the busier spring and summer seasons.”
In their report, the NJCCC broke down the revenues.
First of all, the biggest loser when it comes to brick and mortar revenues was Caesars who took at 23% hit to its growth curve and generated $17.5 million. The second biggest loser was the Resort who went down by nearly 21% and took in $11.9 million. Bally’s was the third biggest loser and went down by 12.8% and took in $14.2 million. Whiles the Tropicana, Harrah’s and Borgata averaged a 5.5% decrease in revenues but still took in collectively $116.1 million.
But all is not lost, as the Golden Nugget land-based casino still manage to increase its market lead by 16% and generated $25 million in gaming revenues. It’s also important to mention that the decrease only affected brick and mortar casinos. Since the online gaming industry broke yet another all-time high.
Let’s see what March as in store for us! Hopefully, we’ll only report excellent news next month!