Summer Belongs to the Boardwalk, But for How Long?

It was another beautiful summer month down the shore in June as Atlantic City casinos once again managed to eclipse the Garden State’s online casinos in what has become a closely watched proxy battle for the brick-and-mortar vs. digital future of gaming in the state. 

And while online casinos have overcome land-based revenue during the quieter winter months, they haven’t yet been able to dominate in the summer months when tourists by the droves flock to the white sand beaches and entertainment venues that have long made the Boardwalk synonymous with summertime fun.

While land-based gaming was up only 6% year over year, contrast that with Atlantic City’s bigger, more dominant foe, Las Vegas, which reported May Strip numbers down 4%, and downtown numbers down over 11%. Clearly, the drive in the Atlantic City market is showing its resilience in what many had predicted could be tough comparables from last year. 

One of the biggest surprises in the land-based numbers was the resurgence of table games revenue. Of the $260 million brought in, slots revenue remained flat at $183 million, but table revenue jumped 27% to just over $76 million. It is still unclear whether this is a real trend, but the May revenue numbers in the tables also increased by more than 21%.

As is always the case when you have nine land-based casinos, there were winners and losers making up that huge jump in revenue, though Ocean Casino table games played extremely lucky, up 127% YOY, and both Borgata and Caesars were up around 50%. Golden Nugget took the worst of it, down 24%, while the Caesars property, Tropicana, was down 17%.

The Digital Divide

Which is certainly not to say that the online operators had a bad month, far from it. Total revenue came in at $230 million, representing a 23.5% increase over the same month in 2024. In a bit of irony, the top improved revenue site, Jackpot City, which managed a 444% revenue increase for the month, had already announced last week that it was pulling back from both the US and New Jersey casino markets. 

Which will still leave 28 operators fighting it out for their share of the pie. Unfortunately, only six of those operators are generally able to produce more than $10 million a month in revenue. As is usually the case, this month was another instance of the big getting even bigger. 

FanDuel Casino, which leads all online casino operators reliably month in and month out, saw revenue increase a jaw-dropping 48% in June to $53 million, and some quick back-of-the-envelope math shows that they have about 23% of total market share. 

Interestingly, DraftKings, a fierce competitor in its own right, reported only $43 million for the month, representing a 6% gain, which was somewhat lackluster.

Borgata Casino, which came in fourth for the month with just over $20 million, only saw 12% growth. However, they are owned by MGM, which also owns a 50% stake in BetMGM Casino, our number three revenue producer for the month, at $30 million, up a much more robust 35%. The Borgata/BetMGM combination also accounts for just under 22% of the total market.

This leaves Caesars Palace Online Casino in the number five spot, with a very respectable 49% increase to $17 million, and Hard Rock Bet Casino charging hard to $13.4 million, up 40%. This means that the top six operators collectively total more than $170 million, accounting for 76% of the total market share. More like five, since Borgata and BetMGM are so tightly intertwined. 

That leaves more than twenty operators still fighting for the remaining $60 million in online casino revenue. As Governor Phil Murphy hikes the tax rate for these companies from 15% to 19.75% beginning July 1, Jackpot City may not be the last to decide that compressed margins, tight competition, and no clear picture on regulatory hurdles make New Jersey a tough place to do business. 

Rounding Third, Heading For Home

The largest percentage increase, however, wasn’t in brick and mortar or online casinos but in the sportsbooks. Total revenue shot up to $92 million, a 53% home run. And while I say sportsbooks, I mean online sportsbooks, as the total amount bet at brick and mortar locations dropped to just $600,000, leaving the other $91.4 million to be wagered on mobile and computer. 

FanDuel once again came out on top with $35 million, while DraftKings was a length behind with $24 million. Fanatics is coming up fast on the inside with $12 million. While $12 million may not seem impressive, the 570% year-over-year increase certainly is. 

Still Not A Record

While this was good for a combined month of $582 million in total gambling proceeds, it fell short of the $615 million New Jersey posted last month. However, May did benefit from an extra day, as well as the Memorial Day Holiday weekend. 

In any case, it was an 18% increase from June 2024, and perhaps more importantly, it saw almost all gaming verticals in the state experiencing growth, while others, especially online sportsbooks, leapt almost vertically themselves. 

This bodes well for the rest of the summer and into the fall. Still, it’s hard to ignore the slow drumbeat out of Albany as New York moves forward with the selection process for three land-based casinos in the New York City boroughs. This development could soon siphon off players and tax dollars from the Atlantic City market in the not-so-distant future.