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The story of COVID-19’s impact on the Atlantic City casino industry is by now a familiar one, culminating in a more than 19% decline in total annual gaming revenue for 2020. This decline includes an almost 44% decrease in gaming revenue from brick and mortar casino operations.

Looking forward into 2021, January’s 9.3% increase in total gaming revenue, a pleasant surprise resulting from increases in sports wagering and internet gaming, takes some of the sting out of a 16.7% decline in land-based casino win. We can anticipate a similar decline in land-based casino win in February as revenues are compared to the last two months of pre-pandemic operations. As vaccine distribution continues to roll out and consumer confidence returns, we can expect to see Atlantic City’s land-based revenue improve.  When combined with continued increases in sports wagering and internet gaming win, recovery in land-based gaming revenue will lead to significant improvement in 2021 over 2020. However, it may be well into summer or perhaps into early 2022 before we see a return to 2019 levels of monthly total gaming revenue. Much will depend on how quickly the pandemic is brought under control and how ready consumers are to return to pre-pandemic gaming and travel habits.

Even knowing this, it would be only too easy to be drawn in to a negative pattern of reporting on Atlantic City’s prospects, and in so doing lose sight of an important truth. The pain experienced by Atlantic City’s casinos in 2020 was not a solitary one, and the path to recovery will be shared by gaming jurisdictions nationwide. When comparing New Jersey’s year-over-year declines in brick and mortar casino gaming revenue with other gaming jurisdictions, including the Las Vegas Strip, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, it is clear that New Jersey’s declines are in keeping with those of its peers. In 2020 the Las Vegas strip saw a 43.3% decline in brick and mortar casino gaming revenue and Pennsylvania saw a similar 43.1% decline. Some jurisdictions like Maryland saw less of a decline in the same period (30.2%) while others like New York’s commercial casinos experienced more significant declines (59.2%). 

Barring any significant differences in how each state addresses persisting COVID-19 related concerns, we should expect Atlantic City’s fortunes to improve alongside those of other gaming and tourism destinations. Atlantic City may even have an advantage on gaming market leader Nevada, in that New Jersey is far less dependent on a ‘fly-in’ visitor base and can draw ‘drive-in’ visitors from the dense population centers of the Mid-Atlantic region.

When pandemic conditions improve and the pent-up demand of consumers is let loose, Atlantic City is well positioned to capitalize on the lessons of 2020 and the momentum of 2019 to forge a successful 2021 summer season and an even more promising 2022.