No Dice for North Jersey: Atlantic City Keeps Its Casino Monopoly

Atlantic City casinos dodged a major in-state threat after New Jersey lawmakers declined to place a North Jersey casino referendum on the 2026 ballot.

New Jersey has limited slot machines and table games to within Atlantic City since state voters in 1976 passed a referendum authorizing casinos in the shore town. Two years earlier, state voters rejected an amendment to legalize casino gambling statewide.

As New York City moves forward with three casino projects—Resorts World and Hard Rock Metropolitan Park in Queens, and Bally’s in the Bronx—some New Jersey lawmakers say North Jersey needs its own casino to compete in the critically important metro.

Lawmakers Pass on North Jersey Casino

New Jersey does not permit citizen-led constitutional amendment initiatives, meaning such a ballot question can only come through the state Legislature.

Aug. 3 was the deadline for Trenton to pass proposed amendments to the New Jersey Constitution, as the state’s legal framework requires such questions to be announced through public notices at least three months before election day.

The Legislature shall cause the proposed amendment or amendments to be published at least once in one or more newspapers of each county, if any be published therein, not less than three months prior to submission to the people.”

NJ Constitution, Article IX, Paragraph 3

The Aug. 3 deadline came and went with no notice from the legislature. State lawmakers never seriously considered a North Jersey casino bill to initiate a referendum during the 2026 session, though Senate Concurrent Resolution 66 was filed to allow casinos at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park racetracks.

Bergen County’s Meadowlands, run by New York real estate giant Jeff Gural, has long been targeted for slots.

“I was disappointed and truthfully shocked that I wasn’t able to get it on the ballot,” Gural told NorthJersey.com.

Dennis Drazin, who operates Monmouth Park, blamed negotiations surrounding a “tough budget” for the racetrack casino topic being bypassed.

For a constitutional referendum to reach the ballot, a measure must be adopted by the New Jersey Legislature with three-fifths majority support. If a simple majority of the votes support the question, the constitution is amended.  

Constitutional referendums must be conducted during a statewide general election.

Atlantic City Casino Health

Atlantic City’s nine casinos in 2025 generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of $2.89 billion from their in-person slots and table games. Through June 2026, GGR has improved by 2% this year.

In pre-pandemic 2019, Atlantic City GGR totaled $2.68 billion. However, with inflation, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that $2.68 billion would have the same buying power as $3.48 billion today.