NEW JERSEY STILL LAGS IN GAMBLING RECOVERY
22 January 2010
2009 a year of declining revenues
The latest numbers from the New Jersey Casino Control
Commission, show that gaming revenues in Atlantic City
dipped 13.2 percent during the 2009 calendar year
compared to 2008. Nevertheless, land casinos in the area
generated $3.9 billion.
The Commission revealed
that declines in revenues from slot and table games were
causes for concern; slots revenues declined 13.1 percent
in 2009 to $2.72 billion, while table game revenue fell
13.5 percent to $1.22 billion.
New Jersey gaming
licensees paid $295.3 million in taxes to the state, or
8 percent of taxable gross revenue. Casinos invested a
further $49.3 million as part of a state requirement
that operators reinvest 1.25 percent of taxable gross
revenues in projects approved by the Casino Reinvestment
Development Authority.
The Commission's
chairperson, Linda Kassekert, said in a statement this
week: “Casinos continued to suffer in 2009. The weak
national economy, growing competition across our
borders, and the partial ban on smoking in casinos
combined to depress gaming revenues.
She was
referring to gambling expansion in Pennsylvania and
Delaware which are inducing additional competitive
pressures, whilst in New Jersey Senator Raymond Lesniak
recently introduced a bill to allow intrastate internet
gambling as a response (see previous InfoPowa reports).
Kassekert remains optimistic that Atlantic City can
continue to attract visitors to its casinos: “Atlantic
City has a lot to offer visitors in addition to
gambling. When the economy improves and people have more
money to spend on entertainment, Atlantic City will draw
more and more people interested in visiting our shops,
enjoying a concert, dining in our fine restaurants, and
relaxing on our beach,” she opined.
However,
December numbers were not encouraging, in stark contrast
to improvements noted in Nevada for the first time in
almost two years. Atlantic City casino revenues for the
last month of 2009 declined year-on-year by 9.8 percent
to $272.1 million. It was a bad end to a worse year, as
every casino operation reported shrinking revenues by up
to 20 percent in some cases. The Borgata was the
exception to the rule - still down, but only by 5.9
percent to $695.3 million.
Online Casino News Courtesy of
Infopowa
More news here.
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