Glenn Straub received 126 name suggestions via social media, but not all of the names appeared to be serious.
Glenn Straub, who plans on reopening the Revel Casino under a new name, has offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who comes up with a winning name. Straub unveiled the prize to a collection of Columbia University engineering students he spoke to on Wednesday night.
When Amy S. Rosenburg of the Philadelphia Enquirer tweeted out news of the competition, it received 126 replies. Many name suggestions from Twitter followers appeared to have been made in jest. Names like “Straub Mahal”, “Boaty McBoatface”, and “Swanky Bubbles” probably were not what the Florida developer had in mind.
Polo North Failed the Test
Straub wanted to name the casino Polo North, after the development company and golf course he owns in South Florida. The name did not generate much enthusiasm, so he is looking for something new and catchy. ‘
The Revel Casino was the biggest and most famous casino flop in the history of Atlantic City. When the Revel Casino opened in April 2012, it was the most expensive building ever built in the Boardwalk city ($2.4 billion).
Revel Casino’s Sad History
The casino was beset with trouble from the beginning. One investment bank sold out its $900 million investment before the doors opened. Revel Entertainment had to pay $3 million a month in electricity costs to AC Energy Partners. The casino filed for bankruptcy twice in 29 months.
When the second bankruptcy happened, Revel Casino closed. After six months of negotiations, lawsuits, and counter-suits, Glenn Straub emerged from a pack of interested buyers. Straub paid only $82 million, roughly 1/30th of the price of construction.
Lawsuits involving Revel Casino
Since then, Straub has been involved in litigation which has slowed the reopening process. All lawsuits are cleared and Glenn Straub now plans to reopen the Revel Building’s hotel on June 15. Straub plans to reopen the casino, too, but claims it will be a smaller operation than the unwieldy business ran by Revel Entertainment.
Glenn Straub also said he does not plan to manage the property himself. Instead, he’ll hire an outside company to manage the casino. The same arrangement worked for Morris Bailey, when he hired Mohegan Sun to run the Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City. Many credit the Mohegan Sun with the turnaround at Golden Nugget.
June 2016 Hotel Launch
One has to assume the hotel expected to open in the next couple of weeks is going to be called Revel Hotel. Two weeks hardly seems like enough time to rebrand a hotel, get the signage needed for the rebranding, and place it around the complex. A Cleveland-area casino is planning to do the same thing in a 40-hour time span in the near future, but that casino had planned to make those changes for months.
The time table for the opening of the Revel Casino, or whatever it is going to be called, is still unannounced. The media has speculated about a late-2016 opening, and Glenn Straub has suggested as much in the past. Given there is no concrete announcement and no decision for the soon-to-be newly-christened business, one has to assume that the plan to reopen for business is not that far along.
Glenn Straub: Wily Businessman
Glenn Straub has proven to be an unpredictable businessman. His opponents in the bankruptcy auction consistently underestimated him. If one believed Glenn Straub and his lawyer, the local establishment plotted to keep him out of the casino industry. Yet he has won legal standoffs at every turn, so Straub’s unorthodox style appears to be a recipe for success. If Revel Casino finally has a wily businessman running the show, then its long history of failure might finally be behind it.
Whether the Atlantic City economy can support another full casino is another matter. The North Jersey casino initiative clouds every bit of business along the Boardwalk.
Carl Icahn said he cannot invest $100 million in Trump Taj Mahal, if casinos are placed in Jersey City and the Meadowlands. Resorts Casino CEO Mark Giannantonio predicted up to 5 casinos would close, if the North Jersey initiative succeeded. Under those circumstances, no amount of business savvy might save a new casino.
