New Jersey Casinos See New York As A Major Threat To Revenue

On April 17th, a conference was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the Hard Rock Casino. It was dubbed the East Coast Gaming Congress. Panelists spoke about how they need to prepare for the three casinos that will be available in New York. The NY casinos could drastically change the casino market in the Northeast.

There’s been an ongoing debate about whether online gambling hurts or helps physical casino locations. That was discussed on Wednesday at this conference in NJ. Additionally, they spoke about how a potential smoking ban in Atlantic City could majorly affect their business. Right now, New York is in the process of choosing the sites for their casinos. The state still needs to answer hundreds of questions from casino operators before they can be awarded licenses.

Mark Giannantonio says neighboring states need to prepare for what NY will do to the casino market

Mark Giannantonio is the President of the Casino Association of New Jersey. He claimed that Atlantic City has about “two years” to prepare for the competition that NY casinos will bring to the tri-state area. Here’s what Giannantonio had to say.

“We see New York gaming in general clearly as a threat,” - Mark Giannantonio 

He noted that neighboring states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut will be affected the most by NY casinos being built. Mark Giannantonio said that these states need to take measures to improve the “cleanliness, infrastructure, and public safety” to be able to compete with the new pristine casinos that will be in New York. 

Giannantonio was speaking specifically about Atlantic City when referring to the cleanliness of the area. Additionally, he believes that they need to do a better job taking care of the homeless population who live under the boardwalks. Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small did not have any comments on Wednesday after the East Coast Gaming Association conference was held in his city.

Another threat imposed on New Jersey casinos is a smoking ban

Employees of Atlantic City Casinos have pushed for the outlaw of smoking on casino floors. Mark Giannantonio called this a major threat to the casino industry in New Jersey. Casino employees in the state have been pushing for lawmakers to enact smoke-free legislation. They no longer want to be working on the casino floors and struggle for clean air. 

One Borgata dealer Lamont White spoke about how casino owners do not care about their employees breathing in toxic air from people being able to smoke inside. He claims that their bosses continue to promote false hope for employees and do not back the changes they claim to make. White noted that every other employee in New Jersey doesn’t have to deal with this issue. If New Jersey casinos want to continue to thrive, they’ll need to make drastic changes over the next two years while NY casinos are built.