Casino Association of NJ appoints new president

The association from New Jersey has announced the appointment of Steve Callender as its new president.

US.- The Casino Association of New Jersey (CANJ) has appointed a new President after the departure of Kevin Ortzman. CANJ has announced that the industry veteran Steve Callender is the new President of the association.

Callender is currently senior VP of operations for the East Region of Eldorado Resorts. He has over 40 years of experience in the gaming industry, and he became Tropicana Atlantic City’s top executive in 2018 after the sale of the company to Eldorado.

As reported by Press of Atlantic City, Callender said that the CANJ is focused on promoting positive changes for the industry. “I’m the oldest guy in town. But, any single one of us could do it. There’s a lot of experience in the room…It’s just my turn, I guess,” he said.

Callender added that in the CANJ they want to make sure that lawmakers are focused on every angle of things. He said that they aim to ensure that when lawmakers are doing something, that it is going to change the industry for the better.

Callender talked about the sports betting industry

The CANJ is currently paying extra attention to the sports betting industry. The new President commented that while online gambling is helping revenues, sports betting is driving new customers to Atlantic City resorts.

”It brings more retail people and, I think, it’s bringing a new demographic to the property. We’re seeing more food and beverage revenue, we’re seeing more unrated table play, more cars parked and more people staying in rooms. So, the retail component (of sports betting) is absolutely having a positive effect on our business.”

He also denied the claim that online gambling is driving people away from casinos. “The studies that we’ve done at Tropicana prove that that’s not true.”