Atlantic City casino gambling revenue fell 6.7 percent in March from a year ago amid increased competition from nearby markets.
Proceeds shrank to $280.5 million, New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement said today on its website. Slot machine revenue at the 11 casinos fell 5.3 percent to $196.3 million, and table game winnings dropped 9.9 percent to $84.2
Gambling in the second-biggest U.S. casino market after Las Vegas tumbled to $3.57 billion in 2010 from a peak of $5.2 billion in 2006 — before competition from nearby states including Pennsylvania and New York triggered four years of declines. Competition also arrived in Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia.
Six of Atlantic City’s casinos went through bankruptcy or restructured debt during the financial crisis.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is overhauling regulations and creating a tourism district around the casinos in an effort to halt the decline, which has hurt tax revenue and discouraged investment. Christie moved most casino oversight to the Attorney General’s Division of Gaming Enforcement, cutting jobs and regulations at the casino control commission.
Stalled construction is resuming at the half-built Revel casino resort, which in February raised $1.15 billion in debt. New Atlantic City investors include Golden Nugget owner Landry’s Inc., which paid $38 million for Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc’s Trump Marina Hotel Casino in February, and Dennis Gomes, who last year agreed to buy Resorts Atlantic City, New Jersey’s oldest casino resort, from a group of creditors.
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