Word on the street is that the long-awaited resumption of construction of the Revel Casino Hotel complex in Atlantic City could begin in the very near future. I realize this has been stated before, but this time it looks like it’s for real. I certainly hope so. Remember how the city had a lift when it was thought that Revel had its financing in place a few months ago? I can only tell you that the rumor machine is busier now working on this project than at any other time since it first came to town. Keep your fingers and toes crossed.
Update from the blogs 4/2/10...
200 Numbers Don’t Add Up
A story that appeared in this week’s issue of GGB News, an excellent source of news about the gaming industry both nationally and internationally, produced an interesting story based on an interview with David Schwartz, the University of Nevada Las Vegas’s gaming research director. Schwartz stated that the bill that would allow the development of four 200-room hotels with 20,000-square-foot casinos — Sen. Jim Whelan’s legislation that was introduced into the New Jersey Senate last week — produces numbers that do not add up. He said that a 20,000-square-foot casino would produce only $68 million a year in gross gaming revenues. With a higher tax rate, a five-percent increase, a robust non-gaming revenue flow would be necessary to turn a profit.
Schwartz writes on his blog, dieiscast.com, that it would make more sense to buy one of the existing casinos and invest some money into it. He writes, “Trump Marina earned $203.6 million in 2008, after a long decline (in 2002, it made $283 million in gaming revenue). It is obviously under-performing, and has the potential to do much better business. It’s near two of the biggest and best performing properties in the city (Borgata and Harrah’s), much better neighbors than the Atlantic City Hilton, near Albany Avenue. It has an existing customer and marketing database and needs no additional infrastructure. At the very least, it’s a turnkey business. Of course, you’d have to invest heavily to bring it up to its potential, but how much would it cost to remodel? It took $150 million to transform the Alladin into Planet Hollywood, which is about [2.5] times the size of the Marina.
“So instead of starting from scratch and investing $300 million in a new facility with one quarter of the revenue potential, why not just buy Trump Marina and renovate it — really renovate, almost beyond recognition? Even if you put $100 million into it, you’re still saving money and you’ve got a much bigger, better situated Hard Rock Casino with way more potential upside.”
In my view, this certainly makes sense. According to reports, the Trump Marina is available for $75 million. We will have to wait until we see who will be the recipient of Trump Entertainment’s three Atlantic City properties. It is anticipated that the bankruptcy judge will make her decision in April. Trump Entertainment CEO Mark Juliano has stated that the Trump Marina would be for sale. Carl Icahn, the other bidder for Atlantic City’s Trump Entertainment properties, has also stated he would sell one or two of the Trump properties if they were to be awarded to him.
I believe that Atlantic City needs new casino entrepreneurs and the selling of one or two of its current properties would establish new concepts, enthusiasm and excitement that is necessary for this industry to bring more people to Atlantic City.
Good News Notes
HBO, the cable network, has already begun promoting Boardwalk Empire, which will debut in the fall. It is anticipated that this will be the new The Sopranos for HBO as those who have seen the early segments of this production stated they have a winner. Local Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson, the author of Boardwalk Empire, is delighted with what he has seen to date. This will bring a lot of national interest in Atlantic City.
Tom Cantone, senior V.P. of Mohegan Sun Casino, one of the most highly regarded entertainment executives in the nation, is wearing a big smile on his face due to the success of his son in the movie industry. Marc Cantone recently won Best Short Documentary at the Phoenix Film Festival for his film Bowling Blind. This is his first film award and he wrote and produced it. He also wrote an episode for the animated Nickelodeon show Fatherhood and a short film called Cutout, starring the late Al Martino, his first film since his role in The Godfather and ironically his last. Cutout was shot in Atlantic City and Absecon.
Atlantic City’s Easter Parade, which in past years drew as many as 300,000 people to the Boardwalk, will take place on Easter Sunday at 2pm. This year the judges will once again be seeking the best dressed on the Boardwalk in various categories. Judges will be viewing the entrants in front of the Steel Pier. Tony Catanosa, the operator of the Steel Pier, has joined the City of Atlantic City in producing this event.
The Michigan State basketball team, in the Final Four this year, is the same team that lost to the University of Florida in the 2009 Legends Classic Basketball Tournament at Boardwalk Hall last Thanksgiving weekend. By the way, due to the good turnout of fans, the 2010 Legends Classic will once again be held in Atlantic City on Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 26 and 27. Tickets are now on sale at Boardwalk Hall. The teams this year are Syracuse, Michigan, Georgia Tech and the University of Texas El Paso, UTEP. This is a good lineup so get your tickets early.
Monday, April 2, was announced as the starting date of an eight-week preview to Atlantic City’s forthcoming $2.4-billion beachfront destination, Revel
Kevin DeSanctis, Revel CEO: "Clearly we want to go after the type of artist that can draw 5,500 people, and when you get into that genre, if you will, there’s probably only about 20 acts that can do that."
"Revel Entertainment said Thursday that it has secured the final $1 billion-plus it needs to finish its half-built casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk."
Revel Casino stays ahead of the curve when it comes to keeping those who want to remain “in the know” informed of its progress in Atlantic City.
Article:
No Miss America Parade in Atlantic City
Article:
Happy Birthday, America!
Article:
Miss America Returning?
Article:
Good Start to Summer
Article:
Cantor Remembers Old Atlantic City
Article:
Restoring Atlantic City
Article:
Bring Back Prohibition!
Article:
Beggars Can't Be without Permits
1. American Gaming Guru said... on Mar 31, 2010 at 04:59PM
“I am a big fan and highly respect Dr. Schwartz (an AC native). His calculations certainly raise good concern; however, he does not appear to incorporate non-gaming revenue. As I said before, Hard Rock brings with it enormous brand recognition and typically a younger demographic that spends significantly more on non-gaming attractions. Bars, Restaurants, pools and rooms are enormous revenue generators, while the casino is just a part of the puzzle. It is my belief that if they start with 200-300 rooms that the demand will be so great that (1) their hotel rooms will be profit centers of the resort due to higher room rates and (2) they will be enticed to quickly add more rooms. Regardless, the Hard Rock hotels in every jurisdiction (Europe may be an exception) are built around non-gaming amenities that have proven to bring in an enormous amount of non-gaming revenue. That is what AC is looking for and we have not even heard from Hard Rock yet. Let’s give them a chance to respond.”
2. Dave said... on Mar 31, 2010 at 06:25PM
“AGG, Look at the Chelsea, small, up-scale(?), boutique hotel. They are struggling to fill their rooms at $59.00. Just because you add a casino floor does not guarantee success and in fact it probably wouldn't help the city (maybe the owners). There must be better options for these "dead zones" on the boardwalk and hopefully an innovative entrepreur will step up.
As for Revel financing, notify us when it's a done deal”
3. They Call Me Flip said... on Apr 1, 2010 at 11:12AM
“Atlantic City needs more than somebody buying a couple of properties and renovating them. Somebody buying Trump Marina and GUTTING the property is a step in the right direction. The property needs serious renovations. Renovating Trump Marina does nothing for the Boardwalk, where the serious work needs to be done. It does not fill in any of the half dozen or so vacant lots there. It does nothing to the southern end of the Boardwalk to bring foot traffic to the Hilton or the Tropicana. I think Whelan's plan to limit the gaming space is supposed to entice these boutique casinos to add something different in non-gaming. The casinos that didn't adapt or adapt quick enough when Borgata opened are the same ones that are having trouble adapting to the new business realities from new competition. It's time to let them die and new properties come into town. If AC doesn't change with the times and change quickly, it will continue to die a slow death. It's time to try something new.”
4. They Call Me Flip said... on Apr 1, 2010 at 03:40PM
“There's this assumption that everyone wants to stay in a huge resort. Not the case. Some people like the intimacy that a smaller property brings.The Alladin was not 25 years old and been poorly maintained when it was converted to Planet Hollywood and even after all the money that was pumped into converting it still struggles. Trump Marina's revenue has steadily fallen since the opening of the Borgata and the additions at Harrah's. It would take a lot of money to get it to compete with those two properties.
Most of the empty lots on the Boardwalk have been there for a while. Even when the city was booming in the 2000-2006 time frame, it couldn't get companies to invest to fill these spots. Now that there's increased competition and less capital available; how can people really think that companies are going to flock into AC to fill these holes. The Hard Rock wants to do something and people want to block them. It's called cutting off your nose to spite your face.”
5. Joel said... on Apr 2, 2010 at 04:37AM
“One of the great things about AC in years past were the large rooming
type houses that were all over the southside at the inlet on streets like States, Delaware, Rhode Island, etc. One of the more legendary houses was 5 North Chelsea. If a large casino operator can re-make that structure
into a casino and put it up on the Boardwalk you'd have an instant classic
that no other casino town could claim. Rooms would be frozen at the old time prices and a B & B Lounge could be your casino restaurant. This is
truly innovative.”
6. Smart'sBetter said... on Apr 24, 2010 at 04:13PM
“75 million is about right for GAMING revenue - plus an additional 20 mission from non-gaming revenue make s a 300 million dollar investment a very good deal, indeed.”
7. Folop said... on Mar 17, 2011 at 04:19PM
“Holdem poker download free http://holdemomaha.com/
”
8. Kolda said... on Mar 18, 2011 at 04:27AM
“Internet Texas holdem http://holdemomaha.com/
”
9. Anonymous said... on Feb 11, 2012 at 06:06AM
“Pinky.....with the new tourism district, yourself and everyone on the panel should be so pleased that a cleaner, safer, healthier and family-friendly Revel will be opening and also be SmokeFREE. It's been 30 years of the smoke-filled halls and time for a cleaner, healthier AC that will attract the millions of non-smokers, and the smokers who can curtail their habits while enjoying the restaurants, shows, casino & beachfront.”