Warm breeze in Atlantic City; Indiana heats up

December brought an acceleration in most forms of New Jersey gambling revenue. Atlantic City casinos managed a 1.5% increase over the end of 2019 but sports betting revenue dropped 11% year/year, blamed on low hold. Sticking close to home, Internet gamblers lost 34% more than last year, the brightest spot on the horizon (unless you were a player). Boardwalk grosses were $212 million, i-gaming yielded an impressive $133 million and sports betting engendered $59 million. Slot revenue was flat at $150.5 million on 2% less coin-in while table games captured $59.5 million (+5%) on 10.5% less wagering. Borgata stabilized at -1% or $54 million, too late to save Melonie Johnson‘s presidency. Hard Rock Atlantic City vaulted 37% to $35.5 million while Ocean Resort climbed 27% to $26.5 million.

Bally’s Atlantic City showed signs of a turnaround, up 13% to $11 million, while Caesars Atlantic City gained 5% to reach $19 million. Harrah’s Resort was off 7% to $24 million and Tropicana Atlantic City fell 18% to $19 million. Resorts Atlantic City was down 7% to $11.5 million and Golden Nugget brought up the rear with $10.5 million, a 26% plunge. Our Atlantic City correspondent reports that the Nugget had a “decent” number of patrons last weekend and no wait for the food lounge, unlike Borgata, where service was backed up 35 minutes. We’re not sure that’s a good thing for the Nugget. As for sports betting, handle was $1.2 billion, a 23.5% year/year increase. FanDuel/PointsBet dominated online revenue with $27.5 million while FanDuel raked in another $2.5 million in retail wagering at the Meadowlands. I-gaming, which should prove a valuable hedge against New York State‘s incursion into sports betting, was led by Borgata’s $37 million, closely followed by Golden Nugget Online ($36 million) and Resorts Digital ($33 million).

Belying December’s torrid numbers, Hard Rock was “slow” last Thursday, as seen at the center bar (below). In other Boardwalk news, Bart Blatstein broke sand, er, ground on his Showboat water park, supposedly without government funding. Also, the Lege voted to end needle exchanges in order to lure the NAACP convention to the seaside. Reports our correspondent, “Caesars group TV ads suggest they have ‘world class entertainment.’ Guess they mean Third World-class entertainment.”

Another state having a bonny December was Indiana, where gambling revenues were up 11% over 2019. Hard Rock Gary was tops for the third straight month, banking $32.5 million against Horseshoe Hammond‘s $30 million (-13%). Ameristar East Chicago was down 2% to $19 million and Blue Chip slipped 14% to $12 million. Racinos did very well, with Indiana Grand up 18% to $28 million and Harrah’s Hoosier Downs rising 20% to $21.5 million. Non-riverboat French Lick Resort stumbled 13.5% to $7 million, though. Bally’s Evansville continues to benefit from its rebrand, up 14% to $14 million, while Caesars Southern Indiana dipped 5% to $21 million. Hollywood Lawrenceburg was up 3% to $15 million, Rising Star rose 18.5% to $4 million and Belterra Resort was down 10.5% to $8 million.

Hoosier State sports betting saw only $26 million in revenue (low hold, again) on handle of $463 million. In terms of market share of handle, DraftKings led with 35%, then FanDuel (28.5%), BetMGM (12%) and Caesars Sportsbook (11.5%). Having trouble gaining traction were BetRivers, PointsBet and Barstool Sports, all in the 2.5%-4% stratum.

Jottings: Sports betting in Maryland has generated $16 million in handle in the early going. Maryland Live led with $7 million, followed by MGM National Harbor‘s $6 million and Horseshoe Baltimore‘s $2.6 million … Aaron Gomes of the Gomes gaming clan has resurfaced as COO of Rose Resort, a Peninsula Pacific casino taking shape in little Dumfries, Virginia. Of the anticipated tax revenues, Mayor Derrick Wood said, “It’s going to triple our budget.” … Virginia state Sen. Joe Morrissey wants to block Richmond from having a second bite at the casino apple. His motive is that he covets gaming for his hometown of Petersburg, one of eight cities that would be eligible under legislation he has proposed … Looking forward to more entertainment and parking at Encore Boston Harbor? Forget about it for now. Wynn Resorts is putting its plans on hold, apparently for fear that the expansion would come under the Massachusetts Gaming Commission‘s remit … $6.5 billion looks like the magic number for Blackstone Group to obtain control of Crown Resorts. A deal could be struck within weeks and approved by July.