[NYguy]

^ That’ll be enough for some.



https://finance.yahoo.com/news/not-o...172700645.html

Not only New York casinos threaten Atlantic City. Developer predicts Meadowlands casino is coming


WAYNE PARRY
Thu, Apr 18, 2024

Atlantic City casinos are facing threats on multiple fronts from new competitors not just in New York, but from within their own state.

That's not great news for a seaside resort in which the amount of money won from in-person gamblers continues to lag, with seven of the nine casinos winning less from on-premises customers than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

At the East Coast Gaming Congress Thursday at the Hard Rock casino, numerous executives from some of the major casino companies in America acknowledged the opportunity of three downstate New York casino licenses — and the risk they will present to Atlantic City.

And the operator of a racetrack in northern New Jersey, just outside New York City, told The Associated Press he believes New Jersey voters will authorize construction of a casino in the Meadowlands shortly after New York casinos open and New Jersey gamblers tire of paying bridge tolls and sitting in traffic to get to gambling halls in New York.

“Now more than ever we know there's a threat coming with New York City gaming coming,” Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small said at the conference. “We understand the threat. We want to continue to work together to do things right to put Atlantic City into a prime position, no matter where these casinos are, that we diversify our options.”

Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International, is straddling both markets.

His company operates a casino in Atlantic City that is the second-most successful in the market. And Hard Rock is partnering with New York Mets owner Steve Cohen on a proposed $8 billion casino complex at Citi Field in the city's Queens section.

If as many as three casino open in or close to New York City, Allen said, Atlantic City's in-person gambling revenues could fall by 20% to 30%.

“We have to be prepared for that,” he told attendees at the conference.

Allen said Atlantic City's Hard Rock will weather the storm of New York competition. But he said he does not want to see any competitors in the city close, throwing 2,000 to 3,000 people out of work in a repetition of a wave of casino closings in Atlantic City from 2014 to 2016 that saw five casinos close. Two have since reopened under new ownership.

Tom Reeg. CEO of Caesars Entertainment, which owns three of Atlantic City's nine casinos, also said New York casinos will be a challenge. His company, too, is seeking a New York casino license with SL Green, and Roc Nation in Times Square.

“We're pursuing that license with fervor,” Reeg said. “I share Jim's concern about where the (Atlantic City) market is headed as we head into New York.”