Golden Nugget owner says AC has enough casinos

Tilmann Fertitta, owner of Golden Nugget Atlantic City, said that the city is not a 9-casino market.

US.- Atlantic City has been experiencing good financial results in recent months, but a casino owner seems to be against the city’s expansion. Tilmann Fertitta, owner of Golden Nugget Atlantic City, said this week that Atlantic City “is not a nine-casino market.”

The owner of the casino said that he doesn’t understand why nobody realises that Atlantic City is not a nine-casino market, Press of Atlantic City reported. Fertitta said that the opening of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City and Ocean Casino Resort affected Atlantic City.

“You could say the market is going up and that we’ve added thousands of jobs, but now every other casino has had to lay off jobs, so I don’t even know how big the net gain is. But now, none of the casinos have the cash flow that they did,” he said.

Moreover, the Golden Nugget and Houston Rockets owner said that the current situation is similar to the one from the start of the decade, when facilities stopped investing because profits declined due to increased competition. Back then, five casinos closed in just two years.

“This is what happened to Atlantic City the first time, and it’s how the casinos got all run down. People didn’t have the money to keep (their properties) new and fresh by putting money back into it. I think it’s a huge mistake again. It’s a seven-casino market, and when it was seven casinos, everybody was putting money back into the properties. Now, they won’t.”

Golden Nugget can now offer sports betting on NBA games

Last Friday, the Governor of New Jersey signed the bill that allows Golden Nugget to take bets on NBA games. The bill signed by Gov. Phil Murphy allows anyone that owns 10% of more of a professional sports team to take bets on games within their league. However, betting on games involving their teams is still prohibited.

Now, the facility and its online partner BetAmerica can accept bets on games that do not involve the Houston Rockets. This is the same scenario that Fertitta faces in Nevada, where the casino is prohibited from accepting bets on games involving his team.

Fertitta said that the facility was at a disadvantage before the bill. “I think we’ll do well and will be a leader just like we are in internet gaming,” he added.