It’s happening at Atlantic City Hotels and Casinos

Macau’s economy is based on tourism and gambling, much like its counterparts in the US – Las Vegas and Atlantic City. These three places, combined generate more revenue just from gambling than the total market Cap of Bank of America and US Bank combined, in fact they don’t even come close.
Here, we look at the key statistics at the “Terrific three” gambling hubs.

Las Vegas

Las Vegas has long been the world’s gambling hub. High end casinos, unparalleled service and a large variety of entertainment options have kept tourists coming back to Vegas year after year. Leading properties include casinos run by MGM Mirage Inc., Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., Las Vegas Sands Corp and The Wynn Resorts Ltd.

At close to $6.5 Billion in gambling revenues in Las Vegas alone and $12 billion total gambling revenue in the state of Nevada which includes the City of Reno, a smaller gambling hub, it is still arguably the world’s largest entertainment location, even though Macau has exceeded Las Vegas in the last year or so as the world’s largest gambling hub.

Overall, the Las Vegas economy, which includes revenue from tourism, gambling, entertainment and a host of other smaller businesses including conventions, has been increasing 6.5% year after year and is about $110 billion now and is expected to reach $155 billion in 2012. No other location comes even close to that number.

2008, however, has been slower than usual, primarily due to the overall economic slowdown in the US due to the sub prime mortgage crisis.

Atlantic City:

Atlantic City has 11 major casinos and has been the second biggest gambling hub in the US for several decades. Research studies however show that 2007 will be the first year for the drop in revenue, because of the tough competition in the gambling industry.

Many of the old casinos that were there in Atlantic City have been shut down. The Trump Marina Hotel Casino had the biggest decline $11.8 million, and recently, Trump decided to sell this away as well. New casinos have started coming up though and it is unclear at this time what the future of Atlantic City would be.

Overall revenue for casinos in 2007 dropped 2.9% compared with 2006, but the decline in slots revenue was even sharper at 7.2%. The smoking ban, additional taxes, competition from casinos in neighboring states and the overall economic slowdown contributed to the slowdown. Despite these losses, Atlantic City generated $4.94 billion in gambling revenues in 2007, still a very strong number in the US. With new casinos coming up and the closure of the old loss-generating ones, Atlantic City seems to be poised for a comeback. Only time will tell.

Macau:

Gambling revenue in the enclave totaled 55.9 billion patacas ($6.95 billion) in 2006, which includes lottery and racing revenues although the booming bulk came from the casino floor. This may exceed the $6.2 billion generated by the Las Vegas strip. VIPs related revenue was higher but the mass market was slightly lower.

At the end of 2006, Macau had 24 casinos operating 2,762 gaming tables and 6,546 slot machines. In the beginning of the year 2007, with the increase in the gambling revenue by 22% reaching US$ 6.95 billion, Macau dethroned Las Vegas to emerge as the world’s No.1 gambling destination.

The success story of Macau may be due to the fact that the visitors from the nearby areas in mainland China show more interest towards gambling compared to the Americans in Las Vegas, whose people aren’t that interested in gambling in general. Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal and within the reach of three billion people which positions it well for further growth, much better than Las Vegas and Atlantic City. It is already the world’s largest gambling center by volume and may soon become the largest by revenues as well.

Related Links:

• Wynn Macau Taking shape
• Stories on Atlantic City
• Las Vegas -Nevada

Filed under: Gambling by Jen - No Comments →

Given the high costs may be involved for traveling to Atlantic City or Vegas, it seems logical that competition from local casinos and entertainment centers can have a major impact on these two cities. Gone are the days when lady luck worked at these places almost exclusively. These days, the gambling is legal in most states or at least adjacent states for most people. Everyone wants a piece of the gambling action and why wouldn’t they? For decades, this industry has been almost immune to economic downfalls.

With the current state of the economy, patrons are justified when they decide to save their money by settling for a local casino compared to the riches and the jumbo jackpots at Atlantic City and Vegas. Gambling at  local casinos cuts out the cost of transportation as well as bed and lodging. No wonder Casinos at Atlantic CIty and Vegas have lost revenues at a faster rate than local casinos during the first half of the year. All eyes are on Obama and McCain to turn things around!

Filed under: Entertainment by Jen - No Comments →

It seems that opportunities are becoming a little ripe these days, the latest of such attempts comes from Penn National, which wants to open a casino on Route 30. First of all, the land is not in the casino zone - it is on the outskirts of the city. The next hurdle would be the sewage plant right next door, so even if permission were granted, the smell factor would definitely make it less than a perfect choice for the location of a 24-hour entertainment avenue. The message from the city council also so far is that Penn National has little chance of success, as the current laws only permit development on 3% of the 23-acre land. With many hurdles in the way, one should not hope to see the Penn National casino anytime soon on the White Horse Pike.