New Jersey casinos post a 5.1% drop in revenue in Q1 2025
New Jersey’s land-based casinos posted net revenue totaling $730.3m for the quarter ending March 31, 2025, down 5.1% compared to the same period in 2024.
Continuing the downwards trajectory, total operating profit also represented a decrease of 15.1% for the period down to $132m.
About New Jersey casino gambling
Historically, New Jersey had the second-largest gambling industry of all US states – behind Nevada – until 2012, when Pennsylvania overtook The Garden State.
Since then, it has sat in third place, behind Pennsylvania and Nevada.
The state’s nine land-based casinos are all located in Atlantic City, in line with the state’s gambling regulations.
Governor Brendan Byrne signed the New Jersey Casino Control Act into law in 1977, allowing casinos to operate within Atlantic City.
A referendum had been narrowly ed the year before, garnering 56% of the vote, after a previous attempt in 1974, seeking to statewide gambling, had failed the public ballot.
Today, New Jersey continues to allow gambling in Atlantic City and has also ed iGaming regulations to allow New Jersey online casinos to operate, so long as their servers are situated within the city’s borders.
New Jersey casino revenue in Q1 2025
For the quarter ending March 31, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement published that the state’s casinos generated net revenue amounting to $730.3m, which is a 5.1% decline on the $769.9m for the same period in 2024.
Borgata, the state’s largest venue, generated the most revenue, at $174.2m. Borgata’s 2.7% Y-o-Y decline represented the second-best performance of all NJ casinos, behind Hard Rock – when compared to how well it did for the same time last year.
Hard Rock was the only venue to experience an increase, with its $135m quarterly revenue representing a 1.2% rise on 2024’s figures.
The worst-performing casino, apart from Caesars Interactive, was Caesars itself. A massive 15.9% drop saw quarterly revenue fall to $50.1m for the period compared to $59.6m in 2024.
Net revenue figures, for all of the state’s casino licensees, were as follows:
- Hard Rock: $135m (+1.2%)
- Borgata: $174.2m (-2.7%)
- Bally’s: $41.7m (-7.7%)
- Ocean Casino: $113m (-3.2%)
- Tropicana: $61.1m (-3.2%)
- Golden Nugget: $34.3m (-3.4%)
- Harrah’s: $70.1m (-3.6%)
- Caesars: $50.1m (-15.9%)
- Resorts: $40.5m (N/A)
In September 2024, Resorts Digital lost its casino license, meaning all internet gaming and sports betting revenue was reported under Resorts. Therefore, the figures are not comparable to last year’s report.
New Jersey casino profit in Q1 2025
In of operating profits, the picture was even bleaker. Overall, the casinos posted a combined $132m in gross operating profit (GOP). This figure is down 15.1% from $155.4m for the same period in 2024.
Bally’s posted a loss of $6.6m for the quarter, a hefty 169.3% down on the $2.5m loss ed in Q1 2024.
Hard Rock, which was the only casino to post net revenue gains, also posted GOP gains, up 2.9% from $26.2m to $27m.
However, it was outdone by Tropicana which, despite a 3.2% dip in revenue, managed to add 7.1% to its profit figures. It made $13.4m in profit compared to $12.5m last year.
Other than Hard Rock and Tropicana, all other casinos in the state saw drops in profits.
Gross operating profit for the period, by licensee, was as follows:
- Tropicana: $13.4m (+7.1%)
- Hard Rock: $27m (+2.9%)
- Ocean Casino: $22.5m (-6%)
- Borgata: $48.2m (-6.8%)
- Harrah’s: $15.6m (-7.5%)
- Golden Nugget: $1.8m (-23.5%)
- Caesars: $3.5m (-66.5%)
- Bally’s: -$6.6m (-169.3%)
- Resorts: $3.6m (N/A)
Hotel occupancy rates
Some of the decline can be attributed to the rise in iGaming popularity with an increasing number of players preferring to play from their own homes, rather than traveling into Atlantic City.
Bally’s Casino, which recently shared its own Q1 figures showing a third consecutive quarterly decline in revenue, has also blamed bad weather. In a statement, company CEO Robeson Reeves said operations in the state should show recovery after “recent leadership changes.”
New Jersey online casinos have outperformed land-based casinos in the state for months now.
However, online casinos have to share more of their money with technology platforms, software providers and other businesses.
Meanwhile casino owners also make supplementary income from resort visitors, in the form of hotel bookings and money spent in casino resorts.
Hotel occupancy rates can be a good indication of overall revenues and, unfortunately for New Jersey’s casinos, occupancy rates in the complexes have also seen declines.
The state’s largest venues, by number of guest rooms, are Borgata, Harrah’s and Tropicana, but it was Hard Rock that had the highest occupancy rate of 77.2%.
On average occupancy rates were 62.9% – across the board – for the quarter, taking all casino hotels into , representing a decline of 1.9% from the same period last year. The casinos posted 64.8% occupancy rates in 2024.
Number of rooms and occupancy rates for the state’s casinos, counted at the end of the quarter, were as follows:
- Hard Rock: 1,973 (77.2%)
- Ocean Casino: 1,860 (71.3%)
- Borgata: 2,727 (67.8%)
- Caesars: 1,136 (65.7%)
- Harrah’s: 2,584 (59%)
- Tropicana: 2,364 (56.2%)
- Resorts: 942 (54%)
- Bally’s: 1,121 (51.5%)
- Golden Nugget: 717 (43.7%)
Hotel average occupied room rates
Notably, the casino with the lowest occupancy rate was Golden Nugget at 43.7%, which, during the period, also had the lowest average rate per room occupied with a rate of $100.56.
Meanwhile Ocean Casino had the highest average rate of $229.66 and one of the highest occupancy rates of 71.3%.
Average occupied room rates for the casino hotels were as follows:
- Ocean Casino: $229.66
- Caesars: $179.14
- Borgata: $162.12
- Hard Rock: $152.17
- Tropicana: $142.55
- Bally’s: $141.90
- Harrah’s: $137.06
- Resorts: $118.62
- Golden Nugget: $100.56
Overall, the casinos charged an average rate of $159.13 per occupied room during the first quarter. The report suggests that casinos are struggling with reduced visitor numbers while competing to win players by reducing accommodation charges.
