NJ Casino News: Weekly Roundup

Get the latest casino news and updates in New Jersey for this week (December 4, 2021 – December 10, 2021).

Tax Drama Continues Between City and AC Casinos

The New Jersey State Senate has been discussing a bill that would change the existing laws about how casinos pay their taxes to the city. Currently, Atlantic City casinos can make payments in lieu of property taxes (PILOT) in return for not appealing their property taxes.

Bill S4007 would amend the current bill and decrease the basic PILOT payment from $165 million to $110 million.It would also exempt online gambling and sports betting revenues from calculations on how much the casinos must pay the city, county, and school system. Atlantic City casinos and Senate President Steve Sweeney argue that this amendment would prevent four of the nine New Jersey casinos from having to close:

Internet gaming and sports betting has become a crucial component of the casinos’ revenue, accounting for about $1.8 billion so far this year; they combined for about $620 million in revenue in 2019, according to gaming enforcement data.

Based on revenue projections for the year, the casinos would be required under the current agreement to pay $165 million in 2022. The bill that advanced Monday, and which Sweeney sponsors, would lower that amount to $110 million — a local revenue loss of $55 million, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services. 

The office estimated local revenue losses in calendar years 2023 through 2026 of between $30 million and $65 million per year.

Celebrate a Big Gay Italian Christmas at Ocean

Writer and star Anthony Wilkinson is bringing the show “My Big Gay Italian Christmas” to the Ovation Hall at Ocean Resort and Casino. The show debuted at the Golden Nugget in 2017 and sold out to rave reviews. The show will be held at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 18. Meanwhile, Wilkinson will host a special Ocean Pride Happy Hour at Ocean’s Blush Bar & Lounge at 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 17, with drink specials and monetary donations to The Trevor Project:

The follow up to the Big Gay Italian Trilogy, (My Big Gay Italian Wedding, My Big Gay Italian Funeral, My Big Gay Italian Midlife Crisis) Wilkinson has created a Christmas show designed specifically to play for the holiday season. The Big Gay Italian Christmas is a lasagna made up of a bisexual love triangle, political conversations gone spoiled, a variety of over the top characters and the snow storm of the century.

US Casinos Make a Record-Breaking Year

According to figures from the American Gambling Association, U.S. casinos have already broken a record for the most money won in a single year: $44.15 billion. These numbers only reflect through the month of October and some of November, so the end-of-year numbers will be even higher:

October highlights nationwide include in-person gambling continuing to drive the industry’s recovery, with brick-and-mortar activity generating $3.97 billion, topping pre-pandemic totals by 16% from October 2019.

Americans wagered a record $7.05 billion on sports in 25 jurisdictions in October, bringing the year-to-date total amount bet to $42.19 billion. That is nearly double the amount wagered in all of 2020 when just 17 markets were operating.

With some data yet to be reported, commercial sports books kept nearly $408 million after paying out winning bets and other expenses in October, surpassing the previous monthly record of $405 million set in September.