New Jersey’s Q3 2023 gambling results take a hit

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has released the latest numbers covering the third-quarter results in the gambling industry in the state. Atlantic City’s casinos saw a decline in results compared to the numbers from last year, down 7.5% to $281.2m in terms of gross operating profit, the regulator explained.

The first nine months of 2023 saw a total net revenue hitting $2.5bn, or an increase of 2.7% from last year’s nine-month period. Gross operating profit in the first nine months of 2023, though, reached $602.1m, or down 2.5%.

The biggest winners in terms of net revenue for the third quarter were the Ocean Resort, which raked in $149.3m in the third quarter of the year, along with Hard Rock, which added another $169.7m. Both results were topped by Borgata which raked in $218.3m over the period.

In terms of gross operating profit, Borgata again led with $73m, followed by Hard Rock with $44m, and then Ocean Resort with $43m. Although these results were still lower than in 2022, the fact remains that net revenue and net profit did outperform the pre-pandemic 2019, which is an important milestone and a sign of the industry’s future recovery.

Taking the overall results compared year-over-year, Borgata’s net revenue was down by 0.4% in 2023. Hard Rock posted a 1.6% contraction as well, but Ocean Resort was in good standing, beating net revenue results from 2022, and gaining 13% on the $132m posted last year.

A fairly similar picture was painted in terms of gross operating profit, where companies continued to lose, but Ocean Resort once again defied this overall downward trend and achieved a 10.4% gain in this metric, beating the $38.9m posted in 2022.

Gross operating profit for the first nine months, however, was down by 2.5% or $602.6m compared to 2022. The hotel occupancy rate also took a minor hit in the third quarter of 2023, with the rate standing at 85.6%, which was down 1.1% from the same quarter in 2022.

However, it’s not all bad news. The third-quarter gross operating profit in 2023 in Atlantic City was in fact the third-best year that the industry has seen since 2008, and definitely a noteworthy milestone. Last year just saw a slightly higher-than-expected interest, and not least – the effects of the pent-up demand during the pandemic could still be felt, and besides, minor up-and-down fluctuations year-over-year are to be expected.

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