Every month the Division of Gaming Enforcement  (DGE) releases the data for the previous month reporting Atlantic City casino revenue for each of the nine casinos separately and collectively.

While both NJ gaming analysts and casino operators were optimistic about the likelihood of a strong rebound this summer, not even they could have anticipated that it would be to the extent that actually occurred. For the second time this year, Atlantic City casino revenue returned to the levels reported before the pandemic hit.

June 2021 Atlantic City casino revenue was impressive, but the July figures were even better

In my 7/20/21 article for NJ Online Casino, I reported that June’s gross gambling revenue of more than $345 million (nearly $393 million with the addition of revenue from the NJ racetrack sportsbooks) set a new monthly record.

Prior to June 2021, we have to go all the way back to July 2011 for the previous monthly record of $340.5 million.

Well, guess what! The record posted in June was eclipsed in July! According to the Division of Gaming Enforcement, between $276.9 million in slots and table games revenue plus $188.7 million in NJ online casino games revenue, plus $20.7 million more from sports betting, the grand total for July amounted to $416.3 million.

Which Atlantic City casinos performed best?

Five of the nine Atlantic City casinos fared better in July 2021 than in July 2019. Ocean Casino Resort registered the biggest gain, a whopping 58% increase in revenue, followed by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City with a 23% increase.

These figures are not surprising, as both of these relatively new casinos, which opened on June 27, 2018, were still trying to find their footing in 2019. The other three Atlantic City casinos with a better performance in July 2021 than in July 2019 were Caesars, Resorts, and Tropicana.

Meanwhile, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa continues to lead all other Atlantic City casino properties as the No. 1 Atlantic City casino revenue producer by far. However, the $63.9 million it generated in July 2021 was still $16.9 million (21%) less than in July 2019.

A comparison between July 2021 and July 2019 is more meaningful than one with July 2020 because, of course, all of the Atlantic City casinos were struggling a year ago. Despite being permitted to reopen in time for the big July 4^th holiday weekend, both attendance and amenities were greatly restricted due to the pandemic. The Borgata lost out on virtually the whole month of July. It did not even reopen until July 26.

The following table summarizes the results for all nine Atlantic City brick and mortar casinos in July 2021 both individually and combined.

                                             July 2021 Atlantic City Casino Revenue

Casino	Sots	Table & Other	Poker	Total Win
Borgata	$46,185,035	$16,187,679	$1,486,373	$63,859,087
Hard Rock	$32,671,096	$15,044,798	N.A.	$47.715.894
Ocean	$22,438,809	$7,863,670	N.A.	$30,302,479
Tropicana	$22,446,722	$6,911,332	$240,341	$29,598,395
Harrah’s	$22,480,522	$6,206,659	$369,712	$29,056,893
Caesars	$19,629,755	$6,394,658	N.A.	$20,024,413
Resorts	$14,794,032	$3,776,010	N.A.	$18,570,042
Bally’s	$10,997,522	$5,250,276	N.A.	$16,247,798
Golden Nugget	$12,981,073	$2,544,088	N.A.	$15,525,161
TOTAL	$204,624,566	$70,179,170	$2,096,426	$276,900,162

Atlantic City casino revenue from internet gambling set another record

Besides breaking the previous record for total Atlantic City casino revenue (brick and mortar casinos, online casinos, and sports betting combined) the Atlantic City casinos and their online partners also posted their biggest internet win so far of all time in July 2021. The July 2021 total breaks the previous record of $113.7 million set in March 2021.

Many people thought that as the land-based casinos rebounded from the aftermath of the pandemic, particularly as the weather got warmer and with the availability of a vaccine, that there would be a significant fall-off in online activity. However, that hasn’t been the case.

In fact, during six of the first seven months of 2021 (every month except February) NJ online casino revenue has exceeded $100 million.

As for comparisons with previous years, the negative impact of COVID-19 did not in any way hamper online play, but on the contrary, enhanced it, as for a good portion of 2020, it was the only legal gambling option available. Therefore, a comparison between July 2021 and July 2020 figures is meaningful for internet gambling. The results show a 35.7 percent increase from the July 2020 figure of $87.4 million.

Moreover, the total NJ online casino revenue for January through July of this year combined already stands at $752.9 million. As analyst Bill Gelman points out in his 8/20/21 article for Play NJ, the NJ online casino industry is on target by the end of 2021 to be celebrating its first $1 billion year ever!

Nevertheless, the performance of some NJ online casinos continues to way outshine others.

Which NJ online casinos performed the best in July 2020?

Besides being the top-performing land-based Atlantic City casino, Borgata (together with its online partner BetMGM) continued to be the top performing NJ online casino gambling entity. In fact, July marked the 5^th month in a row that Borgata has held that title, relegating its closest competitor, Golden Nugget to second place.

The internet gaming wins for July 2021 for each reporting entity are listed below in reverse order from highest to lowest.

Reporting Online Casino Entity	Total Win
Borgata	$36,464,340
Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOC)	$33,504,559
Resorts Digital	$23,295,171
Caesars Interactive NJ	$10,194,267
Tropicana	$6,988,798
Hard Rock	$6,645,764
Ocean	$1,545,678
Bally’s Premier (PointsBet)	$46,518
TOTAL	$118,685,095

How long will the July 2021 record for the biggest monthly NJ online casino gambling total of all time stand up before that gets broken, too? Probably not very long. With three new online casinos and sportsbooks added to the mix–PointsBet (affiliated with Bally’s), Betway (affiliated with Golden Nugget), and Barstool (affiliated with Resorts), the NJ online gambling industry is primed to keep getting bigger and bigger. Can there ever be too many online casinos for NJ players? With 20 and counting, probably not!