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Tough Competition Spells Bad Luck for Atlantic City

Posted on July 7th, 2010

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Atlantic city used to be the prime destination for gaming for most Americans, probably next to the state of Nevada. However, the current construction and licensing of casinos in neighboring states seem to spell bad luck for casinos in the Atlantic City. To date, a number of casino projects have been developing in nearby states, including Pennsylvania and Delaware. Massachusetts is also soon to incorporate expanded gambling in their state. Delaware just opened its latest poker room casino at the Delaware Park in Wilmington, much to the delight of players.

Vince Ceasar, one of the players in Delaware says “I played a lot of places, all around the country: Vegas, Atlantic City, St. Louis. But this works” Fellow gamblers Joe and Caesar Follows are also frequent visitors of the poker house already, and are just as delighted to know that they don’t need to drive all the way out of town just to play. “Atlantic City’s going to feel it. They’re going to definitely feel it. There’s so many regulars I see in here right now. And on a Friday, Saturday, they don’t have enough tables.” they said. Much like any industry, you fight for your share of the market, and Delaware park isn’t denying its efforts to attract as much visitors as they can, even if it meant going for players of casinos in neighbor states. Their current advertisements are meant to lure in players with hopes to keep them in town and play here instead.

Delaware Park general Manager Andrew Gentile explains that while poker tables aren’t as lucrative as slot machines, these games still bring new business in, and for a new player in the industry, that is all that matters. “It’s an extremely competitive marketplace right now. And everybody’s got to get out there just to protect their own share, “Slots players typically are female, 45 and older. The poker player is predominantly male, and a lot of retirees. You’re also seeing a lot of that younger generation that grew up in the last 10 years watching the World Series of Poker on ESPN” says Gentile. Poker players will soon have even more options as Casinos in states like Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are well on their way to adding pokers tables on their casinos in the coming months.

Economist Ernie Gross from Creighton University explains the simple reason why states are allowing more and more casino and gaming constructions. “It’s a way of getting tax revenues at a very fast clip, so there’s a real, real incentive on the side of the state, on the side of the city to approve casinos.” Gross continues to explain the chain effect of having more competition in a very limited market. “To some degree, you’re going to cannibalize casinos in other states. The industry is going to get much more competitive, particularly in the northeast portion of the U.S.” The state of New Jersey has already declared decreasing revenues from all Atlantic City Casinos in 2 years in a row, and more competition in the casino industry will not help the state at all.

New Jersey Casino Control Commission head Linda Kassekert explains “People are spending less. So while they may be coming to Atlantic City — and we know that they are coming because our room nights are up — they’re being more careful about how they spend their money.” Luckily for Atlantic City, Borgata is still doing well. Joe Lupo, Senior Vice President says he isn’t worried about the competition. “It’s the fine dining we have at Borgata, it’s the entertainment program, the spa — it’s those other amenities that I think turned Las Vegas into the gambling mecca, I think you’re slowly seeing non-gaming revenue slowly increase here in Atlantic City.” Borgata is known for its high send shopping stall and restaurants.

Las Vegas style casinos may be the money-earning trend that Atlantic City casinos will need to follow, but the current economy has only made things tough. A 10 billion dollar investment may have been a possibility a few years back, but for now, Atlantic City will just have to wait on lady luck to smile on them again.