If you’ve walked the boards in Atlantic City lately, you know the vibe is complicated. One minute you’re looking at the gleaming facade of Ocean Casino Resort, and the next, you’re passing a boarded-up storefront that’s seen better decades. It’s a city of wild contrasts. That’s exactly why the latest atlantic city casino report data feels so polarizing to the people who actually live and work here. On paper, things look okay—maybe even good. But if you dig into the actual margins, the picture gets a lot blurrier.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) releases these numbers like clockwork, and every time they do, two different headlines emerge. One side screams about "record-breaking revenue," while the other side, usually the casino operators themselves, warns about "shrinking bottom lines."
They’re both right.
Total gaming revenue in Atlantic City has been buoyed significantly by online gaming and sports betting. It’s the shiny object that keeps the state's tax coffers full. However, for the nine brick-and-mortar casinos—Borgata, Hard Rock, Ocean, Caesars, Harrah’s, Tropicana, Bally’s, Resorts, and Golden Nugget—the "win" on the physical floor is a much more stubborn metric to move.
The Revenue Illusion in the Atlantic City Casino Report
Numbers can lie. Well, they don't lie, but they certainly omit the truth. When you see a report stating that Atlantic City pulled in over $5 billion in a year, you’d assume the city is entering a new Golden Age. But it isn't that simple.
A massive chunk of that change never hits the local economy. Online gaming revenue is split with tech partners like DraftKings or FanDuel. The casino might act as the "skin" or the license holder, but they aren't pocketing every dollar that rolls through a digital slot machine. Mark Giannantonio, the president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, has been vocal about this for years. He’s essentially argued that while the top-line revenue looks healthy, the actual gross operating profits are under immense pressure from inflation and labor costs.
In the most recent fiscal cycles, we’ve seen gross operating profits actually dip for several properties even as their revenue grew.
Think about that.
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You’re doing more business, handling more bets, and seeing more foot traffic, but you’re taking home less money. That’s a nightmare for any business owner. It’s primarily because the cost of doing business in New Jersey has skyrocketed. Everything from the price of a prime rib at the buffet to the electricity required to keep the HVAC running across a million-square-foot property has climbed.
The Labor Factor
You can't talk about the atlantic city casino report without talking about Local 54. The UNITE HERE union represents thousands of workers—housekeepers, bartenders, dealers—and they fought hard for a historic contract a couple of years back. They won significant raises. It was a massive victory for the workforce, but it also fundamentally shifted the expense side of the ledger for the casinos.
Is it sustainable? The casinos say it’s a squeeze. The workers say they can finally afford to live in the same county where they work. It’s a tension that defines the current economic landscape of the Boardwalk.
Brick and Mortar vs. The Cloud
Let’s get real about the "in-person" experience. If you look at the 2024 and early 2025 data, only a handful of casinos are actually exceeding their pre-pandemic slot and table win numbers.
- Borgata remains the heavyweight champion. It consistently leads the pack in terms of total revenue, but even the King of Atlantic City feels the heat from Northern Jersey and Pennsylvania competition.
- Hard Rock and Ocean are the "New Guard." They’ve successfully carved out a high-end niche. They invested heavily in renovations and it paid off. They are the outliers that usually drag the city's averages upward.
- The Legacy Properties. For places like Bally’s or Resorts, the struggle is more intimate. They have to compete with the flashy new tech and massive marketing budgets of their neighbors while maintaining aging infrastructures.
The atlantic city casino report consistently shows that while the "total" market is growing, the "physical" market is somewhat stagnant. People are gambling more than ever, they’re just doing it from their couches in Jersey City or Cherry Hill. This creates a weird ghost-town effect in the data where the money is there, but the bodies in the seats aren't increasing at the same rate.
Why the "Win" Doesn't Equal Success
There’s a term in the industry: "Promotional Gaming Credits." These are basically the free plays casinos give you to get you through the door. When the DGE releases the atlantic city casino report, those credits are factored into the "win" totals, but they aren't real cash that the casino can use to pay its property taxes.
If a casino "wins" $30 million in a month but gave away $5 million in free slot play to get people there, their actual revenue is $25 million.
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The competition for players is so fierce right now that casinos are practically cannibalizing their own profits to keep their market share. If Caesars cuts back on its rewards program, those players just walk down the block to Tropicana. It’s a race to the bottom in terms of margins.
Infrastructure and the "Non-Gaming" Trap
For decades, the goal was to make Atlantic City a "destination resort" like Las Vegas. We wanted celebrity chefs, high-end retail, and residency shows. We got some of that. The Quarter at Tropicana and the shops at Caesars are proof.
But the atlantic city casino report rarely highlights the massive debt service many of these properties carry to maintain those amenities. When interest rates spiked, the cost of holding that debt became a silent killer for profit margins. It's easy to look at a high-performing slot floor and think everything is great, but if the hotel tower needs $50 million in window replacements and the interest on the construction loan is 8%, the casino is basically treadmilling.
The Regional Threat is Real
We can't ignore Pennsylvania. Or New York.
For years, Atlantic City was the only game in town (literally). Now, every time a new "casino-lite" or full-scale resort opens in the Philly suburbs or the Poconos, AC loses a slice of its core demographic. The most recent reports suggest that the "drive-in" market is getting pickier. Why drive two hours to the Boardwalk when you can drive twenty minutes to Parx or Live! Philadelphia?
Atlantic City’s only defense is the "resort" experience—the beach, the boardwalk, and the sheer scale of the nightlife. If the city fails to keep the streets clean and safe, that "resort" advantage evaporates. This is why the business community gets so frustrated when the casino tax revenues (the PILOT program) are redirected away from direct city improvements.
Actionable Insights for Investors and Visitors
Understanding the atlantic city casino report isn't just for Wall Street analysts. If you’re a regular player or someone looking at the real estate market in South Jersey, these numbers dictate your reality.
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For the Savvy Gambler:
Pay attention to the "Win Percentage" trends. When reports show that table game win percentages are spiking, it usually means the casinos are tightening up or changing the rules (like 6-to-5 blackjack payouts). Conversely, when "Promotional Spending" is up, that’s your cue to hunt for better mailers and room offers. The casinos are desperate for your foot traffic when the margins are thin.
For the Business Observer:
Don't just look at the "Total Revenue" line. Scroll down to "Gross Operating Profit." That is the only metric that determines if a casino will stay open or get sold to a new holding company in three years. Watch the "Online vs. In-Person" split. If a casino is relying on more than 40% of its revenue from online sources, it’s no longer a "resort"—it’s a server farm with a hotel attached.
The Road Ahead:
The next twelve months will be a litmus test for the city's "premiumization" strategy. With luxury developments like the Dave Portnoy-backed venues and continued reinvestment in the Marina District, the city is betting that high-net-worth individuals will choose AC over regional spots.
Keep an eye on the mid-week occupancy rates in the next atlantic city casino report. Weekend crowds are easy. Tuesday crowds are the difference between a profitable year and a bankruptcy filing.
Atlantic City has been "dying" since the 1970s, yet it’s still here. It’s a resilient, gritty place that thrives on its own chaos. The data reflects that struggle. It shows a city that is simultaneously breaking records and fighting for its life. To understand it, you have to look past the flashing lights and see the math underneath.
Check the quarterly filings specifically for the "PILOT" tax distributions. This tells you how much money is actually staying in the city versus going to the state. If that ratio shifts, the physical appearance of the Boardwalk—and the safety of your next walk to the casino—will change along with it.