The casinos of Atlantic City have survived plenty of challenges to their existence over the past 46 since New Jersey became the second US State to offer regulated gambling. Those challenges include hurricanes, economic downturns, and the massive incompetence of Donald Trump. While they’ve survived plenty, Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen is concerned tha they may not be able to survive the historic opening of regulated casinos in nearby New York City.
While speaking at the recent East Coast Gaming Congress, Allen warned that customers who once happily traveled from New York City to Atlantic City for gambling, won’t be particularly incentivized to make the trip when Midtown Manhattan starts offering the same thing. That proximity of casinos in New York will, according to Allen, almost certainly cause at least one current Atlantic City casino to permanently close down.
“It could happen.Atlantic City receives 20, 30-plus percent of its revenue from upstate New Jersey and downstate New York, and there’s no doubt it is going to have an impact on this particular market,” Allen told the Associated Press at the conference.
“So you have three or four that are very strong and then I think there’s a question as to what happens in that next level down. I think its a concern that if these other casinos don’t perform, then inevitably from a business standpoint, is there vulnerability? I don’t think that changes unless there’s enhancement to the perception of Atlantic City,” he added.
While Allen didn’t say which casino he thinks will not survive the battle, it’s unlikely that he thinks it will be the Hard Rock. The Hard Rock Casino is one of the casinos currently vying for a New York casino license.