Revenues numbers for 2012 show that Atlantic City casinos had their sixth year of decreased revenues. The casinos took in a little more than $3 billion during the year.
Back in 2006, the city’s casinos raked in a record $5.2 billion, since that time, however, AC has seen a decrease of its gambling revenues of more than 41 percent. It has also seem the loss of thousands of jobs. The city is steadily losing ground as the second-largest gambling and casino market in the US.
Superstorm Sandy did not help matters at all, causing the casinos to close up. This was the second shut down the city had to endure in the last year or so. Casinos were not damaged, but the storm was definitely responsible for keeping people away. The storm did damage many of the homes of those who would normally be visiting the casinos and that, too, caused a loss of revenue.
The storm is blamed for the city’s hard-hit November numbers which showed a staggering 27.9 percent decline. This was the biggest monthly decrease ever. The numbers for December were better but were not enough to pull the yearly average up significantly.
It was reported that the local casinos (12 of them) brought in $3.05 billion during 2012. This is down some 8 percent from the year 2011. Of those casinos, 11 of them reported annual declines. Only the Golden Nugget Atlantic City was up, and it was up by only 4 percent, coming in at $130 million.
Some believe that the city’s problems began back in 2007 when casinos in Pennsylvania began to spring up. This was followed by the near collapse of the national economy and high unemployment numbers that soon followed. Some experts suggest that if the weather stays calm in 2013 the city may see a rebound.
Of the losers for 2012, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino led the pack, falling some 25 percent to hit $102.5 million. Second in line was Bally’s Atlantic City. It was down almost 22 percent, hitting $296 million. The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort reported that is was down be some 15.3 percent, hitting $295.4 million. This was followed by the Resorts Casino Hotel which decreased by 15.2 percent, to $130.8 million. The Showboat Casino Hotel reported that is was down by some 12.7 percent, coming in at $225 million. Caesars Atlantic City said it was off by 11.1 percent coming in at $358.5 million.
Also down 11.1 percent for the year was the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, which has drawn interest from an online gambling company interested in buying it. The casino won just over $127 million from gamblers. The Tropicana Casino and Resort was down nearly 10 percent for the year, to just under $250 million, and Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City was down 9.1 percent to just over $399 million. For Borgata Hotel Casino the numbers show that it had a loss of 6 percent, and the other casinos showed the same losses in general. One can only hope that 2013 will be better.