Earlier this week, UNITE HERE Local 54, Atlantic City’s main labor union, finalized a new labor agreement with Bally's Atlantic City, marking the completion of negotiations with all nine casino properties in the city. Each of these agreements is set for just one year.
The brevity of these contracts highlights the ongoing uncertainty in the market, influenced by intense competition from the developing casino scene in New York City and the significant online gaming sector in New Jersey. Typically, casino labor contracts span three years or more, with the previous round of negotiations occurring in 2022.
Local 54 President Donna DeCaprio expressed satisfaction with the outcomes, stating, "We are proud of our negotiating committee, our members and our staff who stood up and fought to maintain and improve the contractual pay, benefit and employment standards that make these jobs good union jobs."
In relation to New York’s gaming market, the one-year contracts allow for a clearer view of the competitive environment ahead. Currently, Resorts World NYC is the only functioning casino in that market and has averaged around $30 million weekly in gross gaming revenue (GGR) during its initial three months of operation. Projected out, this could translate to approximately $1.5 billion in GGR over a full year from a single location. In comparison, Atlantic City’s nine casinos collected $2.8 billion in GGR in 2025, with $1.5 billion generated in just the first half of this year.
While the presence of Resorts World raises concerns for Atlantic City, the timelines for the other two proposed casinos, Metropolitan Park and Bally's Bronx, may be longer than anticipated. Both are currently slated for single-phase openings in 2030; however, Metropolitan Park is reportedly behind schedule, and Bally's struggles to secure funding for its $4 billion project. Changes in development timelines could emerge next year.
The short labor agreements coincided with the release of a significant economic report from the Atlantic County Economic Alliance. This report suggests that as many as 8,000 jobs could be lost in Atlantic City by 2035 due to competition from New York City under a worst-case "Stress" scenario. This figure represents over a third of Atlantic City's casino workforce, which stands at about 21,100.
More moderate projections predict around 5,100 job losses under a "Central" scenario, while the best-case "Blue Sky" scenario forecasts about 1,500 at risk. According to researchers, current employment numbers are at their lowest in nearly a decade, even dipping below figures seen in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.
The report’s analysis considered five factors but only modeled four:
1. Competition from three New York casinos;
2. A potential U.S. economic recession;
3. Possible in-state expansion with new casinos at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park, although these proposals have been rejected previously and will not be on the ballot until 2026;
4. Increased competition from in-state online gambling.
Dr. Max Slusher, who prepared the analysis, clarified, "This analysis is an exposure assessment, not a prediction. It does not say that a specific number of jobs will disappear on a specific date. It asks a planning question: how much of Atlantic City’s 2025 bricks & mortar casino-floor revenue base is exposed if several pressures land on the region simultaneously?"
The pressure from New York also coincides with the rising influence of iGaming in New Jersey. Revenue from Atlantic City's casinos continues to align with online gaming, yet the steady double-digit growth rates for iGaming have fueled concerns over revenue cannibalization for several years.
New Jersey reported $2.9 billion in online gaming revenue in 2025, marking the first year where iGaming outperformed retail casinos. As of July, online gaming revenue reached $1.8 billion, up by 14.5% compared to last year’s record pace.
Critics of the cannibalization theory argue that iGaming serves as a vital growth driver for the entire industry, as overall gaming revenue across the state continues to surge to new heights. Nevertheless, Atlantic City casinos still face difficulties; for instance, operating profits dropped by 15% in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, even as revenue rose.
James Plousis, chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, remarked, "The casino hotels encountered their highest second-quarter costs and expenses in nine years, significantly constraining reported gross operating profits."
