Atlantic City casinos had their best July in more than a decade.
The bigger note: It wasn’t all because of online action.
According to results released Friday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the brick-and-mortar casino numbers in July were the strongest since 2012. Atlantic City’s nine casinos posted a 7% year-over-year increase in gross gaming revenue for the month, marking their best single-month result since August 2025 and the second-highest total in more than 10 years.
The strong month came despite a fire and flood at Ocean Casino Resort in the early morning hours of July 27, which forced a one-day closure of the property.
Much of the fiscal-year tax growth stemmed from a July 1, 2025 increase in the state’s online casino and sports betting tax rates, which rose from 15% and 13%, respectively, to 19.75%. Tax rates for land-based casinos and retail sportsbooks were unchanged, remaining at 8% and 8.5%. Internet gaming revenue totaled $2.91 billion in 2025, a 22% increase over the prior year, while first-half 2026 online casino revenue reached $1.59 billion, up 15% year-over-year.
And to be sure, sports wagering also swung in operators’ favor in July, a reversal from June.
Sportsbooks posted a 33% year-over-year increase in revenue and a 92% increase compared to June 2026.
Internet gaming set a new single-month gross revenue record in July, continuing a stretch of double-digit growth. Atlantic City’s casino operators also set an all-time record for single-month total gross gaming revenue, combining brick-and-mortar, sports betting and internet gaming results.
For the first time this year, in-person casino win outpaced statewide internet gaming win in a single month, according to New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Chairman James T. Plousis.
Brian Tyrrell, faculty director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton University’s School of Business, said tourism tied to the World Cup likely contributed to the month’s numbers.
“This resilience and growth may have been boosted by activity around the World Cup as tourism volume from neighboring destinations overflowed into Atlantic City,” he said.
Tyrrell cautioned that strong gross revenue numbers don’t always translate directly into profit for operators.
“As we have learned from experience, such high returns on gross gaming revenues do not always translate to net gaming revenue gains and gross operating profits,” Tyrrell said. “Costs of doing business continue to increase and other pressures on the industry may suppress the overall profitability of Atlantic City’s casinos.”
The July results come as New Jersey’s gaming tax collections for the 2026 fiscal year reached a record $925.7 million, a 42.3% increase over the previous fiscal year. Additional contributions from parking, hotel revenue and forfeited winnings pushed the state’s Casino Revenue Fund to a fiscal-year total of $937.3 million.
Plousis said the state’s total gaming revenue crossed the $4 billion mark faster this year than in any prior year, generating more than $540 million in gaming tax revenue that funds programs for senior and disabled residents in every New Jersey county.
“In July, Atlantic City’s summer season hit its stride,” Plousis said.
