Like Las Vegas, Atlantic City feeling a pinch

AP Photo/Mary Godleski

Casino towers dot the skyline of Atlantic City, N.J.

By Amanda Finnegan (contact)

Friday, April 3, 2009 | 5:50 p.m.

Las Vegas isn’t the only gaming-dependent city suffering in today’s economy.

A report released by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission showed Atlantic City saw a 7.1 percent drop in revenue across the city’s hotel-casinos in 2008, compared to 2007. The city’s gaming revenue fell 14.9 percent during the last quarter of 2008 compared to the year-ago quarter.

By comparison, Clark County saw a 9.9 percent drop in gaming revenues in 2008.

Las Vegas-based Harrah’s Entertainment, which owns more than 6,600 hotel rooms at four properties in Atlantic City, reported a net loss of $672 million during 2008, compared to a $66 million profit in 2007 at its New Jersey resorts. Caesars Atlantic City saw the largest drop, reporting a $356 million net loss compared to a $32 million profit in 2007.

Although it still reported a loss, Harrah’s Atlantic City was the only resort to report an increase in net revenue, which jumped 8.5 percent from $494 million in 2007 to $536 million in 2008.

The upscale Borgata fared the best among the city’s 11 resorts, reporting an $83 million profit in 2008, a 41 percent drop from $141 million in 2007.

Trump Marina, Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Plaza, owned by Trump Entertainment Resorts, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, reported a net loss of $200 million across its three properties in 2008, compared to a $196 million loss in 2007. The company is a separate entity from the Trump Organization, which owns the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas.

The Tropicana Atlantic City, which is in the process of finding a new owner, recorded a net loss of $107 million in 2008 compared to a $25 million loss in 2007.

Atlantic City’s hotel-casinos reported a combined net loss of $1.1 billion in 2008, compared to a $64.5 million loss in 2007.

New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chairman Lind Kassekert said the decline in revenue reflects the decline of the overall economy and increasing competition from gaming operations in neighboring states like New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Atlantic City casinos will see even more competition in May when Las Vegas Sands opens its $743 million slot casino in Bethlehem, Pa. The casino will be Pennsylvania’s eighth since the state legalized gambling.