Winter puts chill on Atlantic City casino revenue
ATLANTIC CITY - Buffeted by rain and snowstorms, the casinossuffered an 8.5 percent revenue decline during a dreary January,but gaming executives expressed surprise that business did not falloff even more dramatically.
January’s results represented the second straight month ofsingle-digit revenue declines, prompting some hope that the marketis finally starting to stabilize after a prolonged slump punctuatedby double-digit drops.
“It really could have been worse,” mark Juliano, chief executiveofficer of Trump Entertainment Resorts inc., said of the nastyweather’s effects on business. “Instead of being horrific, it wasjust bad.”
Altogether, the 11 casinos won $294.2 million from gamblers inJanuary. Slot revenue declined 7.6 percent to $195.5 million, whilewinnings from table games were down 10.1 percent to $98.7 million,figures released Tuesday by the new Jersey Casino ControlCommission show.
One gaming analyst noted that in addition to a series of coastalstorms in January, the casino industry continued to deal with theweak economy and intense competition from slot parlors inPennsylvania.
“January’s 8.5 percent decline is somewhat surprising in that Iexpected even worse. while the Atlantic City gaming market is stillcontracting, this hints at some short-term moderation,” said IsraelPosner, executive director of the Institute for Gaming Managementat the Richard Stockton College of new Jersey.
Despite some optimism, Atlantic City has now racked up 17straight months of declining revenue. this January was poorcompared to recent years. the casinos posted an all-time Januaryhigh of $406.2 million in revenue in 2006. That was before therecession and competition from Pennsylvania’s new slot parlorsrattled Atlantic City.
January usually is a harbinger for the entire year. Revenue wasdown in 2007, 2008 and 2009 after starting off each year withdeclines in January.
Don Marrandino, president of the Bally’s, Caesars, Harrah’sResort and Showboat casinos operated by Harrah’s EntertainmentInc., doubts that revenue will fall this year.
“It feels like it’s starting to get a little bit stable, whichwould be a good sign,” he said.
Marrandino said the market proved somewhat peppy in Januarydespite the lousy weather. An ambitious entertainment schedulecombined with an Internet push for hotel bookings should drive morebusiness during the year at the Harrah’s properties, he added.
Harrah’s Resort and Showboat were the only gaming halls to posthigher revenue in January. Showboat benefited from better resultsat the slot machines for an industry-leading 4.4 percent increase.Stronger table games play pushed Harrah’s Resort to a 2.8 percentincrease.
The Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort was the worst performerin January, slumping 26.4 percent. Hilton spokeswoman TinaBelluscio declined to comment.
The three Trump casinos all had double-digit revenue declines,including a 23.7 percent drop at the flagship Trump Taj MahalCasino Resort. Juliano said the Taj Mahal was up against a toughcomparison to January 2009, when it was the only Atlantic Citycasino then to post higher revenue.
While Atlantic City continues to struggle, gaming revenue inPennsylvania surged 39 percent in January thanks to two new casinos- the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem and the Rivers Casino inPittsburgh. Overall, the nine Pennsylvania slot parlors took in$184.2 million in slot revenue for the month.
The Sands opened last may and the Rivers in August. Countingonly the seven slot parlors that were open in January 2009, theyear-over-year growth for the Pennsylvania market was 9.6 percent,the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported.
Pennsylvania’s casinos will become even more competitive withAtlantic City when they add table games in the second half of thisyear. Pennsylvania must complete the regulations before table gamesbegin.
Contact Donald Wittkowski:
DWittkowski@pressofac.com
