NY Slots Players Staying Away from Atlantic City
A slots-only parlor located not far from bustling John F. Kennedy Airport in New York is contributing to Atlantic City’s revenue decline, according to media reports.
Customers saving gas and staying nearer to home
The slots parlor in question, Resorts World Casino New York City, which is connected to the Aqueduct Racetrack, is also poaching players – and revenue – away from casinos located in nearby Connecticut.
The slots parlor is located in the New York City borough of Queens, and is operated by the Genting Group. Its effect on the region’s gaming industry can’t be denied, according to gaming analyst Christopher Jones, who works for New York’s Telsey Advisory Group.
“If you go on weekends, you often need to wait just to park your car. It has had a very material impact on Atlantic City. By some accounts, it has had a larger impact on the two Connecticut tribal operators – Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun,” Jones said.
Atlantic City has seen years of revenue decline
Atlantic City, once the premier gaming destination for the entire east coast of the United States, has seen its gambling revenue depreciate every single year for six years running.
Each month when the revenue figures come out, industry pundits express little surprise when the numbers are predictably in decline or stagnant, largely owing to increased competition in the region for gambling dollars from states like Pennsylvania. Last year Pennsylvania surpassed Atlantic City to become the second-largest gambling market in the United States.
City – and state – banking hopes on Internet gambling
When Internet gambling goes live in New Jersey later on this year, it is predicted to be of tremendous help in turning around Atlantic City’s struggling casino industry. Last February New Jersey became the third state in the nation to regulate some form of online wagering when first-term Republican Governor Chris Christie signed the state’s iGaming bill into law.
That law will allow Garden State residents to log on to a wide variety of Internet gambling sites that can offer a broad variety of wagering options from online poker to versions of classic casino games like blackjack.
Proponents of online gaming are hoping that the games, which will eventually be accessible from mobile devices such as iPhones, Androids, and iPads so long as the user is physically located in the state of New Jersey when entering the sites, will attract a younger, more tech-savvy type of gambler to help diversify Atlantic City’s customer base.
Most of Atlantic City’s twelve land-based casinos have announced partnership deals to operate iGaming sites, with the exception of the newly emerged from bankruptcy Revel and the ailing Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, recently best-known for thwarting a purchase attempt by online poker giant PokerStars. Earlier this month, PokerStars announced that it would partner with Atlantic City’s oldest property, Resorts Inc., in an Internet gaming venture.
Situation could grow worse if New York voters approve casino plan
A spokesman for Genting, Stefan Friedman, pointed out that the popularity of Resorts World is motivated not only by convenience, but also because New York City’s large population creates a big demand for gambling entertainment.
“There was a lot of pent-up demand – 10 years’ worth in the local community. It is really an eclectic mix of people from all over. Folks with long layovers at JFK . . . and people from New York City who went to Atlantic City and the Poconos,” Friedman said.
All this could spell continued trouble for Atlantic City, especially if New York voters approve a plan to put seven new sprawling casino resorts in the state. While a property is not immediately planned for New York City, it could be a possibility a few years down the road. New York residents will vote on the casino expansion issue this coming November.
