Atlantic City Bounces Back Big From Pandemic

Everybody talks Vegas, Vegas, Vegas, but Atlantic City is bouncing back – in a big way – from the pandemic.

After a scorching summer season at the tables, Atlantic City casinos followed it up with its best month of October in 10 years.

Revenue from tables games and slots at nine hotel-casinos in A.C. were 237.5 million in October 2021, according to New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement obtained by the playnj.com website.

Not only is that 28 percent more than it was during the month of October 2020 during the pandemic, but it was 17 percent higher than October of 2019, the better barometer for the travel industry to measure its comeback by.

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Moreover, it was the best October for Atlantic City in 10 years, an impressive figure when you consider the city – like other destinations – is only now returning to even the smallest bit of normalcy. And even more impressive when you consider that, back in 2011, when revenue was a shade under $262 million for October, there were 11 hotel-casinos compared to the nine today.

“Customers’ eagerness to return to in-person gaming and entertainment experiences along with the addition of more entertainment options, as restrictions have been lifted, contributed to another positive month in the resort,” Jane Bokunewicz, faculty director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT) at Stockton University, told playnj.com.

Atlantic City has been moribund for years despite being in an enviable location near such metropolitan areas as New York City and Philadelphia. But as more and more gambling locations have opened, A.C. became less relevant.

But there has been a strong effort to refurbish the hotel-casinos on the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk, including a $400 million investment from Caesars Entertainment.

The comeback was fueled by an extraordinary summer of pent-up demand from visitors combined with cost-cutting measures by hotel-casino operators.

According to New Jersey Online Gambling, the third quarter of July, August and September produced $310.8 million in gross operating profit – more than double what Q3 was in 2020 and $50 million more than similar three-month periods in 2019 and 2015, respectively. It’s also the highest third quarter for Atlantic City since 2011.

The summer months are considered the high season for the New Jersey seaside resort town, but trimming the casino workforce to 22,000 employees from 27,000 during the same quarter also helped, former Atlantic City casino regulator Daniel Heneghan told New Jersey Online Gambling.

“Revenues have really rebounded, while costs stayed down — and the big reason is that number of employees,” Heneghan said. “There are still a lot of people in this area who are under- or unemployed, but casinos have found more efficient ways to operate.”