Casino Revenue in Atlantic City Drops Precipitously in September
Management at Atlantic City casinos might not be in the panic stage yet, but it surely can't be too far away. In an industry which seemed destined to grow forever, revenues have been steadily declining over the last year or more, and September was the worst month ever.
Atlantic City knew that racinos in nearby states would cause at least a short-term decline in revenues as competition increased. Plans had been made to alter existing casinos and build new resorts to remake Atlantic City into a destination luxury are for gamblers.
But the freezing of credit markets and the troubled economy have led to continuing drops in revenue and the cancellation of much of the planned renovation of the city's casino area.
Overall gaming income decreased by fifteen percent in the New Jersey casino enclave, the worst since the 1978 legalization of gambling. Table games dropped over six percent, while slot revenue fell almost twenty percent from September 2007.
Officials grasped at excuses while desperately seeking means to turn the tide and regain some of the lost revenue. Rainy weather was actually cited as a reason for the decline, as if New Jersey never had rain over the last thirty years until now.
The smoking ban scheduled to go into effect next week was postponed by the City Council for a year, as councilmen tried to let casinos prepare for the economic impact expected. But due to a calendar problem final approval for the postponement will not be made until a week after the start date.
This means Atlantic City patrons will suffer the no-smoking shock for seven days before the law is retracted, enough to cause lingering ripples of customer desertion.
If September was bad, just wait for the October figures.
