Atlantic City casinos’ profits plunge in 2024 as more players turn to online gambling

Profits dived at Atlantic City’s casinos in 2024, dropping more than 9% compared to the year before, according to numbers released Monday (Apr. 8) by New Jersey’s gambling regulators.

Filings with New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement show that Atlantic City’s casino operators pulled in $768.9 million in net revenue during the fourth quarter of 2024. However, their gross operating profit dropped to $132.5 million, a 10.8% slide compared to the same time in 2023.

For the full year of 2024, the city’s casinos brought in $3.31 billion in net revenue, a slight decline of 0.5% from the year before. But the bigger concern is profit. Gross operating profit fell to $709.1 million, showcasing a 9.2% drop compared to 2023.

Out of all nine casinos in Atlantic City, only Caesars and Hard Rock managed to grow their operating profits last year. However, every casino still turned a profit in 2024. They just didn’t make as much as they did the year before. Caesars saw an increase of 11%, while Hard Rock rose by 8%.

Bally’s took the hardest hit, with its gross operating profit plunging by 77%. Resorts Casino also saw a steep decline of 44%, followed by Golden Nugget, which was down 40%.

It’s just the latest sign that Atlantic City’s casinos are still feeling the squeeze, from tough economic conditions to changing consumer habits in the post-COVID world. More gambling is happening online these days, which means the revenue from online bets has to be split with third-party partners. The casinos do not get to keep the full pot like they do with in-person play.

In an interview with The Press of Atlantic City, Mark Giannantonio, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey and head of Resorts Casino Hotel, acknowledged the tough road the industry is facing right now.

He said: “Clearly the results are extremely disappointing, but not unexpected,” he said. “These are challenging times, but we believe, working collaboratively with state and local stakeholders, we could start to see a turnaround and transform Atlantic City once again into a leading beachfront resort destination.”

The occupancy rate in casino hotels was 66%, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the same period in 2023.

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