Atlantic City saw the Trump Taj Mahal close in 2016 and revenue at brick-and-mortar casinos decline slightly, but thanks to online gaming, the resort has posted its first yearly revenue increase in 10 years. The city’s casinos took in $2.603 billion in 2016, a 1.5 percent increase over 2015. Online gaming made up $196.7 million in revenue.
Atlantic City’s casino revenue stopped a 10-year slide in 2016 and posted a 1.5 percent increase over 2015.
That’s due to $196.7 million in online gaming revenue—up 32 percent over 2015—which made up for a slight decline in brick-and-mortar revenue, according to figures released by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement.
The increase also comes despite the closing of the Trump Taj Mahal in October. Overall, the city’s brick-and-mortar casinos brought in $2.406 billion compared to $2.414 billion for the last year.
With online gaming, however, the casinos brought in a total of $2.603 billion.
“For the first time in a decade, annual total gaming revenue increased last year—up 1.5 percent over 2015,” said Matthew Levinson, chairman of the state Casino Control Commission. “I look forward to this trend continuing in 2017.”
Its’ the first yearly increase in casino revenue for the city since 2006 as casinos began appearing in neighboring states. Of the city’s seven remaining casinos, only two casinos posted revenue declines. Harrah’s was down 4.3 percent to $358 million, and Caesars was down 2.7 percent to $302 million.
“These are some strong numbers, especially with all the bad news about Atlantic City’s ‘demise,'” Levinson said. “There’s a lot of good news here. We have some stronger casinos now, and internet gambling continues to increase. The hope is we’re entering a stable environment now.”
According to an analysis by the Associated Press, online gaming brought in $47 million for the Borgata, $42.2 million for Golden Nugget, $38.6 million for Caesars Interactive, $36.9 million for Tropicana and $31.7 million for Resorts Digital.
The seven surviving casinos also saw their on-site revenue increase 2.1 percent last year to $2.28 billion. Including the Taj Mahal, eight city casinos saw a collective revenue decrease of 0.3 percent, according to the AP.
The Borgata continues to lead the market taking in $769 million.
In December, the seven surviving casinos won $208 million, an 8.6 percent revenue increase over the December 2015 figure.
