Cordish Gaming, we have a problem. Not only does it turn out to have been a bad idea to site a casino in Philadelphia‘s stadium district, it was an even worse mistake by state regulators to saturate the greater City of Brotherly Love area with a fifth casino. Philadelphia Live‘s best days came at the beginning, as the inevitable curiosity factor drove business, mainly at the expense of Rivers Philadelphia. But Cordish has been steadily losing market share ever since and in February came in fourth in the market, behind even Harrah’s Philadelphia, hardly the ritziest casino in town (although the closest to a prison, we’ll give you that).
Last Tuesday, our East Coast correspondent paid Live a visit and found it pretty darn dead. During a three-hour stint at a slot tournament, he saw 200 people, tops. “As you can see from the photo last night, Cordish’s marketing people know how to keep a casino nearly empty,” he wrote us. Not even a ‘Taco Tuesday’ promo could bring out the customers in force.
Above, what passed for a slot tourney at Philadelphia Live. Below, the blackjack area speaks for itself.
I have been saying it for a while now that Philly Live is in real trouble.