What Are the Odds? (Part 5)

In the final part of our ‘What Are the Odds?’ series, News 25 takes a look at the future of Atlantic City and goes over what casino markets from coast to coast can learn from the mistakes made there.

Rick Mazer, Regional President of Caesars Entertainment, says, "And I’m not saying that they’re skewing it, but there is more to what this city is all about than what they’re seeing and reading about."

After this year’s devastating wakeup call, Atlantic City is ready to up the ante. The remaining eight casinos have invested in their properties, bringing people back to the boardwalk and the marina by offering more than just gaming. Don Guardian, Mayor of Atlantic City, says, "They have the large TV monitor in your rooms and they’ve added the hottest nightclubs on the east coast and when you go to a restaurant, you’re gonna’ recognize the chefs from the TV channel."

If you haven’t noticed, the days of casino markets surviving on just gaming are over. The Atlantic City Alliance warns states debating on legalization or adding more casinos about gaming’s false promises. Jeff Guaracino, Chief Strategist for the Atlantic City Alliance, says, "The days of just relying solely on gaming revenue as a panacea for any kind of state trouble is not the future for anyone. We need to all diversify."

Part of being diverse is thinking outside the box. New Jersey’s Stockton College just announced plans to purchase The Showboat, turning the former Mardi Gras themed casino into a college campus. Guardian also says, "You bring in the money, you bring in people, it helps that, but more important, it provides a much better educated employee base so we’ll be able to attract some research and development, some high tech companies, so that’s the vision, that’s where Atlantic City needs to go ten years from now."

Atlantic City’s biggest goal right now is to attract a new kind of customer. Mazer also says, "We need to rethink about how we do business and what type of business we do, hence our investment in restaurants, hence our investments in this meeting center. This will bring a different customer in. This will bring a customer in that’s not here now. It’s a whole new piece of business and I believe in the future of Atlantic City."

Mayor Guardian plans to make sure that customers have a good time in his city, just like they have since Prohibition in the 1920s. Guardian says, "I gotta’ have you be able for you to come down here and kick the tires and see that you’re really enjoying yourself and want to come back again, so as Mayor, I gotta’ make sure you’re having a good time, have fun in my city. If you don’t have fun in my city, I’m not doing my job."

The people of Atlantic City not only have a bright outlook for their own city, but for the Gulf Coast too. Guaracino closes, "We’re in the same boat. We are kindred spirits, and the good news is that Atlantic City and Biloxi will do well and will prosper, and the next few years and the few years behind us were probably really hard, but Atlantic City don’t stop believing and that’s what we say to you guys too."