Atlantic City Casino Jobs Face $1.8 Billion Economic Risk from Regional Expansion

The Atlantic County Economic Alliance released the Greater Atlantic City Casino-Hotel Employment Exposure Assessment on August 25, projecting up to 8,005 regional jobs and $1.8 billion in economic output at risk by 2035 if online gaming growth, three planned New York City casinos, and two proposed North Jersey casino-hotels converge without coordinated state response. The nonprofit economic development corporation, established in 2017 for county business attraction, retention, and marketing, built four planning cases rather than a single forecast; casino executives and analysts reviewed the methodology and conclusions prior to release.

Exposure Range by Scenario

The ACEA model, authored by Director of Business Development Dr. Max Slusher, separates a baseline case from a full-stacking case. The baseline excludes new in-state casino competition and already shows 5,105 Atlantic County jobs exposed, including many union positions, with indirect exposure extending to linen, laundry, and food supply businesses supporting casino operations across South Jersey. The full-stacking case layers three NYC properties — Hard Rock, Bally's, Resorts World — alongside Meadowlands and Monmouth Park casino-hotels, persistent inflation, and a proposed Meadowlands convention center; this scenario reaches more than 8,100 jobs and approximately $1.3 billion in annual revenue exposure by 2035, per separate reporting on the same dataset.

Geographic concentration sharpens the impact. 14,723 of 21,172 statewide casino-hotel positions — roughly 70% — reside in five Atlantic County municipalities: Atlantic City, Pleasantville, Egg Harbor Township, Galloway Township, and Hamilton Township.

Why This Extends Beyond Atlantic City

Three of the five identified competitive threats originate in or near New York City. Hard Rock, Bally's, and Resorts World are each developing full-scale casinos within city limits; their opening dates and capacity allocations directly determine the pressure applied to Atlantic City's floor. A stacked crisis resembling the 2013–2016 period, when five casinos closed, is the worst-case reference point.

The New Jersey Casino Revenue Fund collected $801.5 million in real 2025 dollars — a 47-year program record, up 25% year-over-year and 124% over six years. Statutory allocations fund property-tax relief, prescription assistance, transportation, and long-term care for seniors and disabled residents statewide. Contract erosion at Atlantic City properties compresses this mechanism, with downstream effects on the nonprofit service providers who administer or supplement these programs across all 21 New Jersey counties.

The report identifies conventions and meetings as the strongest available channel for absorbing displaced casino-hotel workers, noting that banquet service, culinary, housekeeping, transportation, and audiovisual roles transfer more readily to meetings operations than to online gambling jobs.

Tracking Variables

• Hard Rock, Bally's, Resorts World NYC casino licensing milestones and opening dates
• NJ Casino Revenue Fund quarterly collections, Treasury filings
• Online gaming and sports betting revenue share, DGE monthly reports
• Atlantic County workforce filings and food-insecurity indicators
• Meadowlands convention center proposal status
• Indirect employment contracts: linen, laundry, food supply vendor data