August Revenues Decline Again at Atlantic City – September 18th, 2009

The holiday month of August – traditionally a busy time for Atlantic City gambling – does not appear to have provided relief for the hard-pressed New Jersey land casino industry.

Latest official figures show a continued decline in revenues, with the month of August 2009 16 percent lower than August 2008 – that equates to a loss of some $2.5 billion in casino profits for the gambling mecca.

Atlantic City is home to eleven casinos and every one of them reported a decline in profits. The Tropicana resort fared best with the lowest slide of 6.9 percent. The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was at the other end of the scale with a reported 30 percent slide from last summer.

Analysts characterised the decline as one of the largest yet in the troubled recent history of the recession hit business, blaming the economic climate but also pointing to other factors such as poor resort maintenance, anti-smoking laws and the continued rise in online gambling despite government attempts to stifle the pastime, where the gambler does not have to travel to play.