Operating profit at Atlantic City's nine casinos fell 9.3% to $162.4 million in the second quarter of 2026, even as gross gaming revenue rose 7.3%. Costs grew faster than revenue. Counting Caesars Interactive Entertainment New Jersey, the online-only operation, the decline was 10.1%. Brian Tyrrell, an analyst at Stockton University, called it 'a clear trend' of falling profitability.
Where the money went
All nine operators stayed in the black, but only Ocean Casino Resort and Caesars Atlantic City improved year on year. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa booked the largest profit at $60.1 million, down 4.7%. Ocean earned $30.1 million, up 12.2%, and Hard Rock $29.1 million, down 10.5%. Resorts Casino Hotel was the outlier: profit fell more than 95% to $473,000. Its president, Mark Giannantonio, put that on the loss of a deferred payment from PokerStars after the contract ended in 2025, with nothing to replace it.
Margin compression came from higher labour and goods costs, and from online operations. Tyrrell estimates internet casino and sports betting expenses added $120 million in costs for operators and their partners. Gross operating profit for the first half fell 15.5% while net revenue rose 0.2%. James Plousis, who heads the Casino Control Commission, said second-quarter costs and expenses reached a nine-year high.
Ownership and competition
The market faces structural change. Caesars Entertainment may pass to Tilman Fertitta, owner of Golden Nugget, which would put four of the city's nine casinos under his control. New Jersey regulators will test the deal against the state's excessive economic concentration law and could require a sale or closure of one asset. New York is meanwhile preparing to open its own casinos, adding pressure on East Coast traffic.
