Online operations are outshining land results in Atlantic City

Using numbers from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, a Press of Atlantic City op-ed piece over the weekend concluded that at 31.7 percent the year-on-year rise of Atlantic City online gambling win in H1-2016 eclipsed the 0.6 percent delivered by land casinos in the same market, and probably did so at a cheaper operating cost.

“Admittedly, the significant increase in online gaming win was on a much smaller base, approximately $72 million in the first six months of 2015 vs. nearly $95 million this year. But it amounted to a net increase of almost $23 million in new revenue while the onsite [land] gaming win was only about $7.3 million more in 2016 compared to the same period last year,” the author, market analyst Anthony Marino, notes.

Total casino revenues from all sources, including third party sales, increased from $1,750,124,000 in the first six months of 2015 to $1,776,095 this year, an increase of approximately $26 million, or 1.5 percent over last year.

“Thus, the nearly $23 million contribution from online gaming was the primary driver of new casino revenues so far in 2016,” Marino claimed, additionally pointing out that state government taxes harvested from online gaming win are, at 15 percent, considerably higher than the 8 percent rate that land casinos pay.

Marino claimed online gaming has certainly helped the bottom line of those land operators who embraced the vertical, but his next suggestion is unlikely to resonate with online industry supporters…

“Perhaps, with online gaming racking up double digit increases monthly and its ability to reduce costs and boost profits, the Legislature should consider raising the online gaming tax rate to 25 or 30 percent and the onsite rate to 20 percent in Atlantic City. Then voters would have the choice to raise more state revenues for senior citizen programs from the existing online and onsite casinos based here in South Jersey rather than from new ones up north.”

Related and similar