New Atlantic City venues struggle during third quarter

The new Hard Rock Casino and the Ocean Resort ranked eighth and a ninth, respectively, during the third quarter of 2018 and seek to improve.

US.- Despite the fact that they have just entered the Atlantic City market, new casinos in town are struggling to get in the spotlight. Both the Hard Rock Casino and the Ocean Resort failed to rank among top-grossing venues during the third quarter of the year and ranked eighth and ninth respectively, but still were optimistic about their future.

The industry had a poor performance as a whole in Atlantic City during the three months ended on September 30 as the market was down 15.3% year-on-year. However, after the Division of Gaming Enforcement revealed its figures, concerns were raised about the newest venues performance but were quickly ruled out by both casinos’ operators.

“We’ve had very good fortune when it comes to groups coming to the property for meetings and conventions,” Ocean Resort’s owner and chairman Bruce Deifik said. “And that’s very important for our property. But, until [Atlantic City copies Vegas] we’re going to struggle.”

About the industry’s performance during the quarter, analyst Tony Marino said: “The opening of two new casinos in late-June plus the advent of sports betting at the same time explains the surge in net revenues in the third quarter and increase in total industry gross gaming win through October. The publicity and media interest accompanying the new casinos and the long-anticipated legalization of sports betting was intense and came at the perfect time — the beginning of Atlantic City’s historically robust summer season. In other words, the timing could not have been better.”