NJ Casino News: Weekly Roundup

Get the latest casino news and updates in New Jersey for this week (May 16, 2021 – May 22, 2021)

NJ Online Casino Use Still High Even After Casino Reopenings

All nine Atlantic City casinos reopened last week to full capacity, but online gambling within New Jersey is still going strong. Even with COVID vaccination numbers continuing to grow, people are still glad to take advantage of online casinos’ convenience:

Figures released Friday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show the casinos took in nearly $108 million from internet gambling in April. That’s up nearly 35% from April 2020, when all the casinos were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and online betting was the only game in town.

Showboat Draws Families to New Lucky Snake Arcade

Showboat Atlantic City Hotel held their grand opening for the new Lucky Snake arcade and bar on May 15. The 100,000-square-foot arcade is the largest in the state, and it’s part of Atlantic City’s larger goal of bringing more family entertainment to the area:

Showboat’s Lucky Snake joins the growing list of attractions in North Beach Atlantic City, a collaborative effort between three casinos and surrounding businesses to promote an area of the Boardwalk that has seen plenty of recent investment.

“We are going to become the premier family entertainment destination, not in the state, but in the region and on the East Coast,” said Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr.

Ocean Casino Resort Will Get Live Entertainment Again

Live music will be coming back to Ocean Casino Resort. Starting this summer, the casino’s Ovation Hall will be opening up completely to showcase performers like Loverboy, Melissa Etheridge, and Alice Cooper:

“We are elated to bring back such an acclaimed group of headlining performers to Ovation Hall for our customers to enjoy,” said Terry Glebocki, Chief Executive Officer for Ocean Casino Resort. “Entertainment is one of Ocean’s core foundations, and as restrictions ease and we are able to open up more of our property, the return of live music and comedy serves to bolster our premier resort experience.”

In conjunction with local health officials, guidelines from the CDC and state authorities, Ocean has implemented health and safety initiatives throughout the property, both in-front-of and behind the curtain. Included in the protocols are mask requirements, thermal screening, hand sanitizing stations and physical distancing. Advanced ticket reservations are highly encouraged to help Ocean comply with capacity restrictions and to maximize contactless ticket scanning.

Bobby Flay’s Steakhouse Staying Open at Borgata Just a Little Bit Longer

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay has had his steakhouse, Bobby Flay Steak, at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa since the mid-2000s, but it was scheduled to close this June. But fans of Flay who haven’t been to the restaurant yet will have a little while longer to get a table — the restaurant is now staying open until the fall:

“Borgata and Bold Food, Flay’s hospitality group, decided to further conversations about the most mutually beneficial time to transition the restaurant spaces and established an agreement to collaborate through the summer period as a result of the city’s regular business volume increase over the summer period,” according to a press release announcing the move.

The space will reopen as a temporary restaurant outlet at the end of the summer that will transition to a permanent eatery, both owned and operated by Borgata and MGM Resorts International, the release added

Borgata May Face Strong Competition from Hard Rock

After wrapping up their legal beef with Ocean, Borgata now has to face the fact that Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City is currently their biggest challenger in revenues:

Borgata came in at $38.5 million for April, producing nearly identical per-day numbers as in January ($38.2 million) and February ($37 million in just 28 days). March was a modest outlier at $46.5 million.

Hard Rock, the former Trump Taj Mahal property that opened on the same day as Ocean did in June 2018, produced $35.2 million, or about 10% less than Borgata did for the month.

Borgata did have two 12-hour closures of its casino floor in April for work to sync the property’s technology with parent company MGM Resorts, but both of those were during mid-week low-traffic hours, so the impact would have been modest.

You Can Smoke in Atlantic City Casinos Once More

While the pandemic was instrumental in halting indoor smoking at each New Jersey casino this past year, the smoking ban will be lifted in June. State Senator Steve Sweeney said that the industry has been suffering and that now isn’t the time to push for a permanent indoor smoking ban:

“A smoking ban would have a significant adverse effect on Atlantic City, resulting in a decline in customers, which would cause job loss and ultimately, a decline in tax revenue that benefits the state and local economy, as well as New Jersey seniors and persons with disabilities,” the association [Casino Association of New Jersey] said in a statement.

CANJ says gaming revenue numbers can be misleading due to the ongoing surge in iGaming and sports betting. Brick-and-mortar GGR plunged nearly 44 percent last year, while revenue from internet play more than doubled.

Land-based gaming is far more profitable for casinos than online. Atlantic City casinos share their online revenue with their third-party interactive providers, and also make money on physical gamblers through food and beverage, entertainment, and hotel stays.