June 09, 2015
Atlantic City has taken a dive. Four of its 12 casinos have recently closed. The town's credit rating has buried itself far below junk status and Gov. Chris Christie has appointed an emergency manager to help the city out of its financial mess.
But for many of the casinos that remain, life isn’t all that bad.
According to information contained in quarterly financial reporters published by the state Attorney General’s office, many Atlantic City casinos showed far higher profits in the first quarter of 2015 than the same period last year. Borgata, has seen its numbers shoot up 82 percent to $38 million, according to the reports.
And they are not alone. Bally’s, which in the first quarter of last year lost money, made a profit. Caesars saw their profits rise 240 percent. NPR was first to report the news.
Not everyone had a great year. Trump Taj Mahal lost more money this year than last year, for example.
And the generally good news comes at a time when lawmakers are pushing for an expansion of casinos into North Jersey, which could add further competition, potentially extracting more patrons from the shore town. For that to happen, however, the state will have to change its constitution, which currently constrains gambling to Atlantic City.
