Posts Tagged ‘Atlantic City’
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Atlantic City used to be a hub of gambling in the US. It was a location that brought in millions in gambling revenue every week. If people wanted a vacation, they headed off to the area for gambling and night life fun. It wasn’t hard to find a great weekend at Atlantic City and millions of tourists came in to take advantage of it. Things have drastically changed now. This month Atlantic City casino operators announced that they had to let go of 1,400 workers. This was horrible news for an economy that is already depressed post-recession. That’s where it all started…the problems for Atlantic City started when the recession first began. People suddenly lost their jobs in huge numbers and credit card companies shut their doors. With few options to get by with, people started to eat away at their own savings to survive. It left most people with drastically diminished savings accounts, and some with nothing left. Once they did get through the recession, most people have focused on building up their nest eggs and paying off debt. They realized a hefty lesson thanks to the recession. Credit was not going to save them so that had to rely on good old cash to get by.
Because of the changes in the market, people are much less likely to wager now. They are focusing on building up their own cash reserves. This is horrible news for places like New Jersey that were hoping for a new economy to show them numbers again. The state’s gaming board announced that the job cuts are most likely not over. Atlantic City casinos are most likely are going to use layoffs as a tool now. There is buzz in the market that the casinos plan on cutting another 3,500 people in the coming year if the numbers don’t start drastically going up again. Whether or not this actually does happen is something that is going to take some time to find out, but it could be that the Atlantic City market’s time to shine has come and gone. There could be just too much competition in the market now, and more coming in the future, for the city to remain a big player in the gambling market.
Tags: Atlantic City, maket, struggle, wager
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Thursday, October 14th, 2010
For a long time now Atlantic City has had problems returning to its normal revenue stream. The recession took its toll on all cities, but this one felt it particularly hard. The gambling center used to be jumping with excitement but as of late it has been struggling. A few months ago the area laid off 1,200 workers and recently sent out a memo warning of future layoffs to be used. The numbers are just not leveling off like anticipated. There is more bad news for the area now. There are eleven casinos in the area and it seems that they took a collective decline by 11.6% in revenue since last year. That totals to a decline in revenue of just over $296 million. Part of the problem is that the decline in revenue is must more long-lasting than hoped. It has been twenty-five months now of a steady decline in numbers and that is showing no signs of tapering off. Even the high traffic season, the summer months, were seriously down. Traditionally it has been June through September that have been the big money making months for Atlantic City, but this year was unlike past years in performance.
The slump is affecting more than just the casinos. The area is depressed and so are residents. With future payoffs coming into play, it is hard to stay hopeful. Add to that the addition of state of the art casinos in neighboring states, and the competition could all but kill the traffic in Atlantic City altogether. Workers are already looking for work in other states and considering commuting out of state for jobs. Even the slot machine revenue for the area is down by almost 10% and that is a sign of bad things to come. Historically slots were what kept most casinos going even in the hard times. There is little optimism in the area and most people believe that full recovery is a long time away, if possible at all. Still casino owners are running business as usual. They have had to cut back considerably, but they still are hoping that the changes make it possible to go on and maintain their businesses until things truly turn around for them.
Tags: Atlantic City, gambling, market, recession
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Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
If you are a fan of HBO then no doubt you have seen “Boardwalk Empire.” This is a new show starring Steve Buscemi and it is set in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The focus of Atlantic City is hopefully going to help reinvigorate the city’s gambling market. Though the show is set in the 20s, it still is hoped to bring a new attention to the city. Part of its draw is that the premiere episode also was directed by Martin Scorsese. One casino that is coming together with a 1920s theme is Resorts Atlantic City. It is hoped that the casino will bring notoriety to the Boardwalk Empire. One of the best ways of bringing a casino some free advertisement is to see it featured in a big name television show or movie. It inevitably peaks the curiosity of the market and makes people want to get in on its gambling fun. Plus most casinos also create specials around the television shows that feature them and that only adds to what a customer can get in returns when they visit the casino.
Right now developer Dennis Gomes is going to purchase the Resort Atlantic City. His biggest obstacle to climb is going to be revamping the entire casino. Part of his goal is to reinvigorate the market with a new casino. For a long time now Atlantic City has been struggling with the numbers. This resort in the city is hoping to change that though. Gomes wants to institute a dress code for all employees. First of all the dealers will have outfits from the 20s and carry those through as they manage their tables. Cocktail waitresses will have the same dresses and other employees will have the same 20’s styled outfits. Gomes is hoping that along with the TV show’s popularity, revamping the casino floor into a casino of yester year will bring in curios patrons who want a blast from the past. Gomes is well aware of how the numbers for Atlantic City are down and how they need something to reinvigorate the market. It may take restructuring casinos and it may take some added efforts, but hopefully the city’s casinos can turn around and return to their older days of glory.
Tags: Atlantic City, Boardwalk, Buscemi, HBO
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Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Atlantic City is in trouble. It is no secret that the gambling Mecca suffered huge losses over the course of the recession. Though it took a while for things to get settled, the recession is now officially over but Atlantic City is none the better. In fact, it is still looking for ways to cut back. The most recent was a layoff of over 1,300 workers in the casinos. The reason for the layoffs was because of the lack of revenue from slots and table games in many consecutive months. This is horrible news for the casinos in the area that were hoping the market changes would return them to their pre-recessionary numbers. Unfortunately it was not meant to happen that way. Now there may be more problems brewing for the location. It seems that Pennsylvania casinos are cutting in on Atlantic City revenues, which is something the gambling center may not be able to stomach.
Employees in the area are expected to start looking to Pennsylvania for employment, rather than staying in the Atlantic City direct area. Not only did Atlantic City layoff a group of workers earlier, but they recently sent out a notice that more workers may be in the same boat if things don’t improve substantially in the near future. Pennsylvania is offering the most competition right now. Not only did it open a huge casino, Sugarhouse Casino, recently, but that casino has seen a huge amount of activity. It is a premiere location that rivals the casinos in Atlantic City easily and people are aware of it. They know that Sugarhouse offers some of the best slots games in the market and offers a much wider variety of them than Atlantic City does. Though it is a farther drive, it isn’t far enough that avid gamblers won’t make the trek. Plus with the bonus of new games, it isn’t difficult to see why they would want to make the move. Atlantic City has long been declining and now things are coming to a head for the area. Only time will tell if it is able to rally or if the casinos in the area will officially fall to the competition.
Tags: Atlantic City, economy, jobs, workers
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Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
The recession was difficult on casinos everywhere. People just did not have the discretionary funds to continue to wager. In fact, they didn’t have the funds to cover normal bills. With the sudden layoffs and the huge amount of home value loss in the market, it wasn’t odd to see entire communities on their knees waiting for change. Now that there are signs that the recession is over, there are still problems in the market. Things have not regulated yet and it could take some time for them to get back to normal. Places like Atlantic City and Las Vegas both suffered greatly. The problem was that other cities may have suffered, but they had varying markets to rely on to pull them out of the financial slump. On the other hand, Atlantic City and Las Vegas didn’t. They were long built on one market- gambling. Much like Detroit, these cities suffered more than normal. Detroit was another location that suffered because it built its main economy on automobile manufacturing. Once that fell, it was left in the cold. Now all three cities are still struggling for normalcy.
Atlantic City is reeling. It has been no secret that their numbers are still not up even though the recession is technically “over” according to experts. Thousands of employees at casinos in the area have already been laid off. Now a new memo went out recently noting to residents that another cutback is coming soon and it could mean another few thousands of jobs in that market are going to be gone. That is terrible news for residents who already are suffering to find new jobs and maintain their own financial footing. In the end, it may be the only way that the Atlantic City casinos can keep their doors open at all. Part of the other problem is that neighboring states are building huge casino facilities. These are making Atlantic City casinos just another option in a wider variety of gambling locations. It no longer has the same exclusivity it once had, or the market on state of the art games to offer. Now it is fighting for its market share of an already strained market.
Tags: Atlantic City, employment, layoff, recession, workers
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Sunday, September 26th, 2010
Young voters know who Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are—they are the political pundits who take on the world with a satirical theme and a jokester review. They know how to take every day happenings and turn them not only into relevant topics, but also into comedy. Comedy Central is the network that gives the two comedians their political reign and supports them as they come up with various themes in the marketplace. Now they two are moving to the political world by holding two rallies in the Washington area. The rally is hoped to bring in thousands of young people who are openly welcoming to the comedians’ viewpoints. That is great news for the market, and casinos in the area are hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the two.
When Stewart and Colbert visit, they are going to be naturally bringing thousands to the eastern part of the US and that means Atlantic City, Maryland and Pennsylvania may benefit. The states’ legislators are hoping that the popularity of the two will bring notoriety to the market and bring people into their casinos. It is no secret that gambling within the area has been hampered due to the recession and expansion of other gambling locales. The area has been suffering—in particular Atlantic City—since the recession. Numbers are down and showing no signs of turning around any time soon. For this reason when big events like this one are publicized and brought to the market, casino operators are hopeful that it will help to spur a change. Some Atlantic City casinos are already building promotions around the event in the hopes to draw people on the short drive to their gaming floors. If they can make the most of this opportunity they can possibly change the climate of the gaming world and return to their former revenue streams. It will take time and events like this are going to be instrumental in changing things. The best part is that Stewart and Colbert are bringing free publicity to the casinos and operators are ready and willing to take full opportunity to work with it.
Tags: Atlantic City, Colbert, Comedy Central, Stewart
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Sunday, September 26th, 2010
The gambling market in the US is looking for as big a push as it can get. Now the market is finding a great opportunity for free advertising and it is coming from the television programming world. HBO announced that it is bringing “Boardwalk Empire.” This is a show coming up that follows prohibition in the 20s and the rise in organized crime throughout the US. It was an interesting time in the history of the US and bringing light to it could mean as a surefire ratings success for HBO. The program is directed by Martin Scorsese and it is staring Steve Buscemi. Both names are huge in the world of entertainment and the combination will push ratings to new heights for the cable network. Scorsese is also being joined by the creator of the popular TV series, The Sopranos. Organized crime has taken rise since the 20s and worked in covert circles. Its interest is a given in the market and most likely the series will bring in a large amount of loyal fans. HBO and all parties involved are hoping that Boardwalk Empire makes it big on the screen.
So how does this affect gambling? The Boardwalk Empire series is set in Atlantic City. It focuses on the development of the area and how gambling took over. Though the market was a huge one, it has lost some ground in recent years due to the recession and other more high-profile competitors like Macau. Atlantic City has declined in numbers and operators there are hoping that the new TV series will push them back to the same popularity levels they once had. They are hoping that it is a live promotional campaign. If the series gains the popularity it most likely is predicted to, it hopefully will take Atlantic City with it. People may once again see the virtues of the gambling world in Atlantic City and note again how much it has to offer. If they do, they may begin returning to the area for their gambling needs. Atlantic City casino operators are hoping Boardwalk Empire is what it will take to turn things in their market around quickly.
Tags: Atlantic City, Boardwalk, Empire, series, television
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Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
Atlantic City gaming has suffered since the recession. If you have watched its progression, you can see that as a business, the city has gone through the aftereffects of the recession just like any other. Prior to the recession, gambling was a popular hobby and millions of people visited gambling locations like Atlantic City regularly. They went to test their own luck at the game and many came away with a good payback and a great gaming experience. Then the recession began. Once people were left in the unemployment lines in record numbers, they had to cut back on their discretionary spending—which for the most part included gambling and vacations. People stopped both. Casinos suffered financially because of the issue, but they were unable to rally until people’s finances did. This proved to be a more difficult situation than formerly anticipated because once people started building up their finances, they still didn’t immediately begin gambling again. This put locations like Atlantic City and Las Vegas in a difficult position. Though they started building promotions and specials to spur on the market, it didn’t work to the degree they had hoped. For this reason Atlantic City is looking to make notable changes and additions to their own market in an effort to turn things around.
Atlantic City officials just announced that they are using the skill and business acumen of two gambling heavy-hitters: Dennis C. Gomes and Aaron Gomes. The two have proven their expertise in the world of gambling by being instrumental in turning around both the Tropicana Casino and Resort and the Trump Taj Mahal. They worked together to bring it an immediate financial turnaround. Now the two are focused on Atlantic City. Together the two have over sixty years of experience in the gaming world. They are focused on bringing Atlantic City to a new level of success. Part of their business model is to reconfigure the casinos and bring new promotions in. These new promotions are set to be the number one draw people will see and change their plans with. If you love Atlantic City be sure to watch out for the considerable changes the market is scheduled to experience this coming gambling season.
Tags: Atlantic City, Gomes, recession
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Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
Atlantic City is another gambling location that is having problems with financial recovery since the recession. Formerly, Atlantic City grew its own economy up to being a viable option for US gambling. It pitted itself up against Las Vegas and successfully managed to hold its own ground and keep its own customer base. In fact, back in 2006 Pinnacle Entertainment even purchased a location in the city for $260 million. It was scheduled to be a location Pinnacle would develop in the future into a gambling Mecca in the area.
Pinnacle, of course, is a gambling leader in the market and was hoping to expand with the Atlantic City location. Then the recession happened and all plans were put on hold indefinitely. No one knew where the recession would take the economy and first now are things fleshing out as to how they are going to be in future years. It is taking a while for things to turnaround and that is having an effect on businesses in the gambling industry.
Once the recession of 2007/2008 happened, it made things difficult on all economies. The credit bust, along with the automobile bust, both worked together to make things difficult on everyone and every business. While people ended up in the unemployment lines in droves, businesses closed down in record numbers. They had to lay people off to survive and many had to close altogether. Pinnacle Entertainment was forced to stock plans on building the new casino in Atlantic City and wait out the recession to see what its future plans should be. In the end, the future plans were affected negatively by the recession. Pinnacle now is looking to unload the land it formerly purchased with high hopes. It wants to sell the plot of land for 70% of what it purchased it at a few short years ago. If this is any indication of where the economy has become, it is proof that things are hard on businesses in industries that were formerly thought of as impervious. It is proving more difficult than anticipated for companies to find revival since the recession and they are having problems with recovery.
Tags: Atlantic City, economy, recession
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Friday, August 13th, 2010
Though the world of online gambling has grown steadily over the past few months, land-based gaming has seen trouble. It seems that most gamblers in the US have cut back on their casino visits. In particular during the recession many gamblers who were left without discretionary funds, had to cut gambling out of their budgets altogether. Though that still left some room for a few online games, it cut out venturing to land-based casinos for gaming fun. The reality is that a lot of land-based casinos are losing money due to the huge growth and convenience of online gambling websites. No longer do people have to pack up, get babysitters, travel for a few hours, find parking, wait in lines and then wait to gamble. If you have a computer and internet access, you can log on in a matter of minutes and be playing your favorite casinos games. These days online casinos offer the same games you will find in a land-based casino and most of the times, with better bonuses and specials.
Las Vegas and Atlantic City are two locations that were formerly equated with gaming excellence. If you wanted the best in casino gambling, you found a long weekend to travel to either location and have gambling fun. Unfortunately, the two markets are now suffering and showing no signs of recovery in the near future. Officials for Atlantic City gaming recently announced that revenues are down by 5% from the same time last year. Part of the changes are due to the added competition of Pennsylvania gaming companies. The problem is that gamblers are being spread thin and now that more and more casino locations are coming into the market, competition is steep. Gambling Meccas of old like Las Vegas and Atlantic City are having problems keeping up with the market. There is little they can do to compete with the overwhelming bonuses that online casinos and new casinos are creating when their budgets are already suffering. Competition is a good thing—for customers—but not such a good thing for companies that don’t have the ability to keep up. Without some tangible changes, Las Vegas and Atlantic City could be in for trouble in coming months of performance.
Tags: Atlantic City, economy, Las Vegas, recession
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