Boffo month for New Jersey, Detroit

Atlantic City casinos sprang through March with a 16% revenue boost (albeit 5% cannibalization of last year’s grosses), booking $223 million, including a 18.5% surge in slot win while table games were up 9% (albeit down 13% on a same-store basis). One of the victims of the latter was Borgata, down 8% at the tables and 1.5% worse overall. A 1.5% bump in slot win helped. The Caesars Entertainment trio also got clobbered at the tables, down 14% on 10% less wagering. Slot win was also 5% on 3% less coin-in. After Borgata ($59.5 million) came Tropicana Atlantic City ($27 million), holding onto second place despite a 6% slippage, Harrah’s Resort clocked $26.5 million (-16.5%) and Hard Rock Atlantic City checked in with $24.5 million, good for the #4 spot.

Volatile Caesars Atlantic City actually gained ground, up 4% to $23 million, while grind joint Bally’s slid 6% to $15 million. Last place went to Resorts Atlantic City (just under $15 million, flat), topped by Ocean Casino Resort again ($15 million, N/A). Also in the mix was Golden Nugget, of course, with $17.5 million, a 9% falloff.

Sports betting rebounded (and I use that verb advisedly) in March, for a simple reason: roundball. “The first week of March Madness generated more action than the Super Bowl, and even the First Four games attracted enough betting to rival a busy weekend of NFL regular season football,” said PlayNJ.com analyst Dustin Gouker. Total handle was $372.5 million, second-best month for New Jersey to date. That translated to almost $32 million in win. “$2 billion in bets in nine months shows just how much pent-up demand for legal sports betting existed in New Jersey,” continued Gouker. “As quickly as the industry has ramped up, though, the next milestone should come more quickly. $3 billion is certainly within reach by the industry’s first anniversary in June.”

Online, FanDuel Sportsbook/Pointsbet led with $13 million, distantly followed by DrafKings with $7 million. At nearly $1.5 million, Ocean’s online book was the only other to generate more than chump change. Terrestrial books were led by The Meadowlands (FanDuel) with $4 million-plus, followed by Monmouth Park, with just shy of $1 million. The Atlantic City books are more competitive here than in the online category, with the notable exception of Hard Rock, a dud with bettors, taking in less than $80,000 between online and brick-and-mortar sports operations.

* Detroit casinos grossed $140.5 million last month. MGM Grand Detroit led the market with $59 million and a 2% gain while MotorCity was flat with $49 million. Greektown Casino was up 2.5% to $32 million. Incoming owner Penn National Gaming should like those numbers.

* Pennsylvania slot grosses are in and Boyd Gaming continues to make dramatic gains at Valley Forge Casino Resort, up 13% to $9.5 million. Parx Casino led the state with $39 million (+5%), while dramatic gains were made at Rivers Casino ($28 million, +6%) and Mount Airy ($13 million, +7.5%). Slippage at The Meadows ($19 million, -2%) was largely made up by Penn National at its namesake racino in Harrisburg ($20 million, +1.5%). Other gainers included Harrah’s Philadelphia ($19 million, 1%), Presque Isle Downs ($11 million, +3%) and SugarHouse ($18 million, +2%). Losers, predictably, were led by luckless Lady Luck Nemacolin ($2.5 million, -10%) and by Mohegan Sun ($18.5 million, -3%). Sands Bethlehem was flat with $28 million reported.