Atlantic City Casino Revenue Declines For 21th Consecutive Month In May
June 13, 2010 7:53 amAtlantic City’s woes look set to continue after the city’s casinos posted yet another fall in their monthly revenue, down 9% in May compared to the same period in 2009.
Atlantic City’s 11 casinos have been experiencing consecutive monthly falls in their combined gaming revenues since August 2008, but last month there was some cause for optimism after the decline was lower than expected. However, May’s figures have also surprised by falling at a time when it was hoped the summer months would provide a much needed pick-up for the city’s beleaguered gaming industry.
All told, Atlantic City’s casinos won $319.7 million in May, a decline of 9% from a year earlier, with slot machine revenue down 8.5% to $225.6 million and table games declining nearly 10.2% to $94 million.
None of the city’s casinos managed to buck the trend but the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort topped the list of fallers with a 21% drop in its revenue, while at the other end of the spectrum the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa fell just 5%.
Resorts Atlantic City was down 12.8%, Caesars Atlantic City was down 11.5 %, Trump Marina Hotel Casino was down 10.9%.
The Tropicana Casino and Resort was down 9.5%, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort was down 9.3%, and Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City was down 8.9%.
Bally’s Atlantic City was down 7.7%, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was down 6.8%, and the Showboat Casino Hotel was down 6.7%.
Commenting on the disappointing results, Eastern division president of Harrah’s Entertainment Inc, Don Marrandino said:
“In April, we felt really good about the way things were going. We’re clearly disappointed. May was just not a good month. Every one’s feeling the same pain.”
Unfortunately, there seems to be no immediate help on the horizon and Atlantic City is forced to continue riding its economic storm, even as its competing neighbour Pennsylvania is set to benefit from offering table games in early summer, and Nevada receives a boost from the World Series of Poker.
The win for Atlantic City’s casinos is now down 7.9% for the year compared to 2009, having earned $1.49 billion so far throughout 2010.