Online Gambling Revenue In Atlantic City
Atlantic City has been suffering from a decline in business for years. Their annual revenue has shown that the venues have been losing money for years, resulting in several closures and bankruptcies of large casinos. However, technology has led to the advent of online gambling. But, online gambling is only legal in three states, including New Jersey. This has allowed for an influx of revenue into the casinos in New Jersey.
On February 26, 2013, New Jersey signed into law a bill that legalized online gambling. One of the main caveats is that the online gambling user must be in the state of New Jersey when playing. This is accomplished by geolocation software. This kind of software lets the casino know precisely where a user is located when trying to do the online gambling. However, it will let users add money to their account from anywhere, which is somewhat contradictory to the process. The question arises about why you would be able to add money if you are in California, but can only play if you are in New Jersey. That question remains unanswered. Additionally, commercials run in states where online banking offered through New Jersey, further confusing the issue.
The legislation to make online gambling legal comes with fees for the casinos each year and a tax. These fees include a $250,000 registration fee and a 15% tax. Online gambling will bring in money for the casinos and for the state of New Jersey. However, the monetary benefits of online gambling outweigh the fees and taxes. This is why more casinos are joining the online environment. They are willing to go through all the regulations and stipulations to get a license for this kind of gambling.
Online gambling has added much needed revenue to the income of many of the casinos based in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Overall, revenue in August 2018 increased, an impressive, 22.5% from August 2017. Casinos like the Hard Rock enjoyed a $110K online revenue increase for August 2018 to take their overall revenue to $30.8 million. Other casinos have also received increased revenue because of online gambling and sports betting. Many people are hesitant to fund an online program with funds from a personal account. This is scary because there is the fear of unauthorized access to an account. However, as people begin to trust the software and websites, it is sure to increase revenue even greater.
Most casinos, in their land based establishments, remained close to breaking even. Only Bally’s suffered a higher loss of -10.69%. So, when you add the online gambling, casinos are much closer to being profitable than they were in August 2018. Atlantic City has suffered over the years with losses, bankruptcies, and closures. Hopefully, the increased revenue is a trend that will continue and will allow Atlantic City to enjoy some expansion. It is reasonable to assume that online gambling and sports betting will continue to add revenue to the casinos’ bottom line.
