Atlantic City Casinos Post Best Summer in a Decade

ATLANTIC CITY - Atlantic City's physical casinos just closed out their best summer in more than a decade — a milestone worth celebrating even as the industry stares down some serious headwinds.

According to James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, the city's brick-and-mortar casinos won $856 million from in-person gamblers this summer, their strongest showing in over 10 years. That figure narrowly beat last summer's total.

The strong season came together despite a sluggish August. Money won from in-person gamblers fell at every casino in town last month except one: Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

The numbers tell a story of an industry holding its ground while the ground keeps shifting. Atlantic City's casinos are competing against inflation, rising operating costs, and an ever-growing desire by gamblers to place their bets online rather than at a table or slot machine.

For our community, that $856 million represents more than a statistic. It's jobs, tax revenue, and the tourism dollars that keep the lights on along the Boardwalk. A summer this strong — the best in over a decade — is a reminder that the in-person casino experience still has real pull, even in an era when a bet is just a tap away on a phone.

Still, the challenges ahead are real. With online gambling continuing to grow and costs climbing, the question now is whether this summer's momentum can carry into the fall and winter months — and whether the resort's casinos can keep drawing visitors through the doors when the beach chairs are packed away.