Casino revenues remained stable last year despite the closure of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in October, according to casino gaming numbers released by the state Department of Gaming Enforcement Friday afternoon.
Total casino revenue, including internet, gaming and hospitality, totaled more than $3.71 billion in 2016 compared to $3.70 billion last year, an increase of less than a percent, according to the report.
Gross Operating Profit for the industry increased 7.3 percent for the year to $587.4 million.
“The casino industry was able to grow net revenue and improve its cost efficiency, which led to a 7.3 percent improvement in gross operating profit,” said David Rebuck, director of the Division of Gaming Enforcement. It is significant, in my view, that every casino hotel was able to show improvement in gross operating profit in the historically slower fourth quarter of the year.”
Taj Mahal ownership closed the facility, once known as the “eighth wonder of the world,” in October. The casino’s management had accused striking Unite Here Local 54 members of preventing a “path to profitability.”
The occupancy rate in the city’s casino hotels in 2016 was 81.5 percent, a 0.7 higher than 2015.