The Revel Casino in Atlantic City is set to close its doors on September 10 after being unable to find a buyer. The closure could potentially result in the loss of 3,000 or more employee’s jobs but from the casino’s perspective it seemed unavoidable. This was the casino’s second filed bankruptcy and the state of casino gambling in Atlantic City seems to be on the decline.
This announcement comes just two years after the casino was developed for $2.4 billion. It was the first casino that had opened its doors in the city since the Borgata’s debut nine years earlier. However, it was unable to have a profitable year, much to the dismay of New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie, who saw the development as an opportunity to spark a new flame on what was the second-largest gambling market.
It was always going to be a challenge, though, as The Borgata was already capturing the luxury gambling market in Atlantic City and it was such a costly development. There seems to be no end to the casino troubles and closures that have plagued Atlantic City.
The Atlantic Club closed its doors at the start of the year and Trump Plaza and the Showboat Casino have plans on shutting up shop later this year. Trump Plaza is closing its doors in September and The Showboat will be closing at the end of August.
The Atlantic Club closure resulted in around 1,600 employees losing their jobs and with the casino industry representing the city’s biggest employer there will no doubt be testing times ahead in a job market that is already suffering from an unemployment rate of over 10 percent.
Former CEO of Revel Casino Jeff Hartmann said in a statement that “The Revel is definitely a blow for Atlantic City, gaming in general and the state of New Jersey.”
Regulation of internet gambling in New Jersey has provided a new source of income for the state which would have seen Atlantic City on the way to reversing a very long and frustrating revenue decline by the year’s end. But with all of these casino closures that is now very unlikely to happen.
The problem with the Atlantic City gambling market is that neighbouring states began legalizing gambling and have opened their own casinos and Atlantic City casinos are having to deal with the ever-increasing competition. As the market is maturing, some casinos are feeling the pinch and going bankrupt. But industry analysts say that despite the large number of casino closures it should help the Atlantic City casino establishments that are still in business.
Pennsylvania, which has only had legalized casino gambling in the past decade has surpassed Atlantic City as the second biggest gambling market in the United States, only behind Las Vegas. The state’s gambling revenues from slot machines and table games have passed Atlantic City, so clearly Atlantic City, despite its location, isn’t the gambling mecca it once was.
In acknowledgement of this, the city leaders have announced plans to generate more non-gambling tourism dollars by turning Atlantic City into a general tourist entertainment destination rather than just a place that tourists can visit for gambling entertainment.
One focus area is attempting to attract more business conventions to Atlantic City because as it stands currently only a small percentage of the city’s hotel rooms are being used for this purpose. And further to this, Atlantic City has a beach and a boardwalk which makes it an attractive tourist destination, and being located so close to the ocean could be the ace up Atlantic City’s sleeve needed for the success of the tourism industry.