Atlantic City breaks ten year losing streak all thanks to online gambling

Jersey’s casino industry has just broken a ten year losing streak after posting a moderate 1.5% increase in revenues for 2016. Thanks to the burgeoning New Jersey online gambling industry, Atlantic City’s casinos were able to post their first revenue increase in a decade.

Atlantic City’s seven casinos generated gambling revenues of $2.6bn last year, representing its first growth since 2006 when its then twelve casinos hit an all-time revenue peak of $5.2bn.

New Jersey’s online gambling revenues came in at $196.7m in 2016, up by 32% compared to 2015. Results show that casino games generated 36% more revenues at $170.2m, while poker even noted an 11% increase to $26.5m.

Land-based revenue alone was down only slightly for 2016, considering revenue was down $65m for the shuttered Taj Mahal alone. Only two casinos posted revenue declines during 2016, with Harrah’s down $16m to $358m. However without the online vertical, the market would have suffered a 0.3% year-on-year decline.

A continuing boost from New Jersey’s nation-leading online gambling industry helped Atlantic City casinos start to find a new equilibrium, following a difficult three-year period that saw five casinos close and at least 11,000 jobs lost.

In other good news, the USA’s second biggest market, Pennsylvania, is predicting a 1% revenue increase to $3.2bn for 2016, whilst the country’s biggest casino market, Nevada, has already reported similarly positive news, turning its first profit since 2008.