The first clue that Don Marrandino is not your typical, numbers-crunching casino operator is his media exposure.
You’re just as likely to see his name pop up in an entertainment column — as it does here — as you are on a business page.
Marrandino, president of the eastern division of global gaming giant Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., returned to his native sand seven months ago on a mission to help Atlantic City break its three-year losing streak. Competition from neighboring states, combined with a crippled economy, has the resort against the ropes.
Marrandino, who acquired the nicknames “Rockin’ Don” and “Mr. Entertainment” during a 20-year stint in Las Vegas, is firmly convinced that ramping up Atlantic City’s entertainment experience is key to reversing the misfortunes of the resort’s gaming industry.
“The way I look at it, it was really our only option,” Marrandino tells me during a frank conversation in his office at Caesars Atlantic City, one of the four Atlantic City gaming halls owned by his company.
“And I think it’s sort of a criticism as how we’ve done stuff here and made decisions,” he adds. “It was like, ‘Oh my god, we might lost $20,000 or $30,000 on an event.’ Well, you might lose hundreds of millions of dollars if this town just continues to play defense. And we’re trying to play offense. [The city] has already lost a billion dollars it can never get back.”
To that end, Marrandino, 50, has dialed up a diverse schedule of entertainment and special events at Caesars, Harrah’s Resort, Bally’s Atlantic City and Showboat. For example, Caesars will present an eclectic lineup of classic rock acts like the Doobie Brothers, Mark Knopfler, Jethro Tull and Heart.
Harrah’s Resort, which recently got back into the weekend headliner business, will continue its longstanding policy of presenting a summer production show with a two-month run of the 10-man a capella singing ensemble Straight No Chaser.
And Harrah’s Entertainment, through its Caesars brand, will increase the number of shows and events it’ll present in the 12,500-seat Boardwalk Hall. This month, the casino will sponsor three back-to-back-to-back weekend events in the arena — a Nickelback concert Saturday night (April 3), a tennis tournament hosted by Venus Williams and a championship boxing match.
“No one’s done three straight [weekends] in the Hall,” Marrandino says. “We’re going to try and keep Boardwalk Hall filled. We’re out there swinging away [for every big concert], but it isn’t easy being so close to Philadelphia and New York.”
Marrandino speaks with a passion for Atlantic City that easily betrays his native status. He was born in Atlantic City and raised on nearby Brigantine island, graduated Holy Spirit High School in 1977 and began his casino career behind the front desk of Bally’s in 1981.
He left for Las Vegas in 1989 and worked his way up the corporate casino food chain, eventually running properties like the Rio and the Hard Rock hotels. He put in a brief stint working for casino mogul Steve Wynn, detoured up to Lake Tahoe for a couple of years and returned to the Las Vegas Strip to run five Harrah’s casinos across the street from its Caesars Palace property.
Along the way, he discovered the up side to booking entertainment.
“When you run a property, you’ve got to look at all the components,” he says. “Talking about who we were going to book [in the showroom], was a lot more fun than talking about the financial performance of the housekeeping department.”
With such an active presence in entertainment, it’s no surprise he made a lot of bold-faced and famous friends, including Sammy Hagar, Toby Keith, Night Ranger’s Jack Blades and E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren. It was Marrandino who forged a friendship with Donny Osmond — talk about a tale of two Donnys? — and then convinced Osmond to get together with his sister Marie for a reunion of their Donny and Marie live stage show.
“That’s the hottest show on the Strip,” Marrandino says proudly. “Individually, neither of them could fill a show on the Strip today. But together, that show will sustain forever.”
Marrandino is hoping to bring Donny and Marie to Atlantic City for five days this summer. As for his buddy Hagar, there’s a strong possibility the former Van Halen lead singer will do a beach concert in front of Caesars this summer, he said.
Marrandino, who moves around town easily, is seeing first hand what works — and what doesn’t — when it comes to the entertainment product. If an act or an event can sell cash tickets, put people in hotel rooms, restaurants, lounges and nightclubs and generally feed the economy, then it’s good for all of Atlantic City and not just the four Harrah’s casinos, he says.
While the casino floor is still the engine that drives Atlantic City’s economic train, it’s no longer the sacred cow it once was.
Gone are the days when a casino would only sell a handful of rooms on the weekends and reserve the rest for gamblers who may or may not show up, leaving empty a hotel room that could have otherwise been sold to a paying customer. And complimentary tickets to shows are generally earned based on casino play, which now makes more tickets available to the public.
“We’re making sure that 80 to 90 percent of the people [going to shows] are buying tickets; we’re not comping them,” he says. “That’s been our major paradigm shift. Artists dreaded coming here because their fans couldn’t be here. And we’re tripling and quadrupling the number of hotel rooms people can buy on weekends. We’re changing all that.”
In spite of the gloom and doom reports casino analysts have been dumping on Atlantic City, Marrandino remains the city’s ultimate cheerleader. He confidently predicts Atlantic City will pull its way out of the financial hole and emerge as a strong entertainment destination.
“I’m very bullish on Atlantic City,” he says.
Ever since he returned to his Atlantic City roots more than two years ago, Don Marrandino has been an outspoken critic of the costs of doing business at Boardwalk Hall.
More bad news befell The Pier Shops on Monday, as two restaurants abruptly closed their doors, presumably forever — Game On! sports bar and the Trinity Irish Pub & Carvery.
Granted, Straight No Chaser has only been in town about three weeks and may still be reaping the benefits of its novelty status, but a packed, mid-week Harrah’s Concert Venue crowd gave the a cappella group a standing ovation following its July 7 show ...
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1. American Gaming Guru said... on Mar 31, 2010 at 05:06PM
“Bravo to Don Marrandino! AC needs more individuals like him that have more energy, new ideas and frankly take action rather than just speak words. Lots of luck to you!”
2. JIMFROMPA said... on Apr 1, 2010 at 11:23AM
“This is what AC needs. I`ve always said " Give me a reason to come to Atlantic City. Or I`ll stay in Penna. and gamble and sleep in my own bed".
I am disappointed that you will be decreasing the number of COMP. tickets.
I like the shows and I like being comped for them. I`m disappointed that they will reduce the number of comped shows.”
3. fluffypanties said... on Apr 26, 2010 at 01:04PM
“was there ever any doubt as to what that man can accomplish?”
4. Anonymous said... on Sep 25, 2010 at 03:52AM
“Will the Donny & Marie Show go to Atlantic City for 5 days next summer or for the entire Summer?”
5. kevin said... on Mar 3, 2011 at 05:23PM
“When will the beatstreet band be playing at your casino”