PA Casinos Top New Jersey In Overall Gaming Revenue
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania's casinos beat out Atlantic City's gambling palaces for overall gaming revenue in 2012.
Pennsylvania casinos notched $3.16-billion in combined gross revenues from slots and table games last year, compared to $3.05-billion for New Jersey. But analyst Joe Weinert says in a way, that's actually old news.
"We analyze the gaming revenues in Pennsylvania [and] New Jersey on a routine basis," he says, "and at some point in the middle of last year, Pennsylvania did, in fact, overtake New Jersey in gross gaming revenues."
And Gaming Control Board spokesman Richard McGarvey says Pennsylvania now faces competition from other neighboring states, not just New Jersey.
"It's really a different landscape than it was just five, ten years ago," he says.
Pennsylvania casinos' combined gross revenue notched an increase of 4-point-4 percent year to year.