-- Casino revenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, posted the biggest monthly decline since gambling started there in 1978 because soaring fuel and food costs left U.S. consumers with less money for entertainment.
In September, gambling proceeds fell 15 percent to $356 million, exceeding the previous record of an almost 14 percent decline set in January 1994. Revenue from tables at the city's 11 casinos slid 6.2 percent, while slot-machine play dropped 19 percent, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission said today in an e-mailed statement.
Atlantic City and Las Vegas, the largest U.S. gambling center, have posted revenue declines as consumers struggling with higher gasoline prices, falling home values and mounting job losses pare entertainment spending. The New Jersey city's economic problems were compounded last month by slot-machine competition from neighboring states and rainy weather.
``These numbers would have been weak if it was bright and sunny all month and there were no casinos in Pennsylvania,'' said Robert LaFleur, a casino analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP in Stamford, Connecticut. ``If money's tight, there's just not as much cash in your pocket to go to Atlantic City at the end of the week for a few hours.''
Revenue Slump
Gambling revenue at Atlantic City, the second-biggest U.S. gambling center, fell 6.3 percent to $3.6 billion in the year through September. The city's annual revenue dropped for the first time in 2007 after Pennsylvania and Yonkers, New York, added slot machines.
September proceeds were partly affected by rainy weather and the weekend preceding Labor Day falling in August, commission spokesman Daniel Heneghan said in an e-mail. The month also had one less weekend than September 2007.
All 11 properties in Atlantic City posted revenue declines last month, with Resorts having the biggest drop at 33 percent. Harrah's Entertainment Inc.'s Marina hotel casino revenue fell 8.3 percent to $42.4 million. It opened the 960-room, 47-story Waterfront Tower earlier this year.
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, co-owned by Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Mirage, reported a 5 percent drop to $59.6 million, the best performance of all the properties. Atlantic City's most profitable hotel casino last year opened its $400 million property, The Water Club, at the end of June.
Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which runs the Trump Plaza and Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, lost 10 cents to 74 cents as of 4:10 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Boyd fell 35 cents to $5.80 on the New York Stock Exchange, where MGM gained 54 cents to $16.80.
Smoking Ban
In an effort to stem declines, Atlantic City's council voted Oct. 8 to postpone a full smoking ban on casino floors that was due to become law Oct. 15. The seaside resort currently allows smoking on 25 percent of casinos' floors.
The decision faces a final reading on Oct. 22 under city rules, meaning the ban will probably take effect Oct. 15 and may be retracted a week later, Karen Blumenfeld, executive director of New Jersey GASP, a not-for-profit tobacco-control policy group, said Oct. 8.
On the Las Vegas Strip, the money gamblers wagered dropped 6.7 percent in the first eight months this year, Nevada's Gaming Control Board said yesterday. Strip gambling slumped 7.4 percent in August even with an additional weekend in the month compared with a year earlier. The figures trail Atlantic City's by one month.
The U.S. had ``a significant amount of tropical activity'' in September as Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna brought rain to the East Coast and Gulf Coast in the first week, Bill Dreher, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in New York, wrote in an Oct. 1 report.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment