Author: David Mckee

Atlantic City gambling halls like Ocean Casino Resort (pictured) may get a summer’s reprieve from a smoking ban, as the New Jersey legislative session winds down without resolution on the contentious issue. Even if both chambers were to vote by June 30, there’s a good chance that the legislation would contain a grace period to soften the blow. A pre-Labor Day ban seems out of the question. The bill in question is creeping toward majority support with 16 state senators and 35 assemblymen having co-sponsored it. “Passing this legislation is the least we can do for frontline casino employees who worked throughout the pandemic, keeping our already struggling gaming industry open for business during some of the bleakest moments over the last couple of years,” said Assemblyman William Spearman (D), one of the newest signatories.

With a mealy-mouthedness that is becoming all too familiar, Atlantic City casino operators took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to plead poverty, warning of “grave danger” to their businesses unless they got tax cuts yesterday. One of their arguments was they were losing business to Internet gambling (largely operated by themselves). But hey, it worked. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) told the Lege to give the casinos what they wanted—and it did. According to a new Pro Publica report, “under the changes, companies will collectively pay … $55 million less than they otherwise would have this year—cuts that will disproportionately impact Atlantic City, the distressed capital of the state’s gaming industry.”

Two and a half cheers for Bally’s Corp., which has banned smoking at table games at its two Rhode Island casinos. We’ll throw in the other half-cheer when Bally’s nixes smoking in all gambling areas. (Ironically, the company is part of a consortium fighting a rear-guard action against a smoking ban in Atlantic City.) The company bowed to pressure from its table-game dealers, who had been protesting outside the Twin Rivers-branded casinos in Tiverton and Lincoln. Bally’s isn’t completely out of the woods, as state Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D) has filed legislation to revoke Bally’s special exemption from the state’s smoking ban. But this does take some of the pressure off.

Liar, liar, pants on fire. That’s what we say to Atlantic City casino executives who predict the coming of the Apocalypse is smoking is banned in their premises. First-quarter gross operating profits were up even by pre-pandemic standards, which hardly makes it sound as though the sky is about to fall. GOPs were 63% over last year and 79% higher than 2019. The downside is that the prosperity was largely confined to four casinos, three usual suspects (Borgata, Hard Rock Atlantic City and Ocean Casino Resort) and one overachiever (Tropicana Atlantic City). Everybody else posted lower GOPs than in 1Q19. And Bally’s Atlantic City recorded a modest loss—$8.5 million—in 1Q22. Borgata pocketed $46 million, Hard Rock made $27 million, Ocean bagged $5.5 million while Tropicana took home $20 million. (Ocean had the highest hotel occupancy, 81.5%, while Golden Nugget brought up the rear at 41.5%. That’s a lot of empty rooms. If you want a cheap room, try Resorts Atlantic City‘s average $106/night, while Ocean’s $209/night is the priciest.)

Sometime today, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) is expected to ramrod her choice of Bally’s Corp. through the City Council. Why the unseemly haste? Lightfoot desperately covets Bally’s $40 million in upfront money to prop up the Windy City’s tottering civic budget, $306 million in the red, although some experts say the math doesn’t add up. Worse yet, Lightfoot knows it, judging from her attempt to jack up the property-tax assessment on the Bally’s Tribune site. It would be levied at $125 million … permanently. (So much for depreciation.) According to The Real Deal, “While Bally’s and owners of at least 25 percent of it could object to higher valuations, they couldn’t argue that it’s less than any amount below the minimum.”

In return, Bally’s would be allowed to slide on Lightfoot’s 30% minority-owned contracting demand, to say nothing of her 10% women-owned contracting edict. A “good faith effort” will now suffice. Also, controversy has not died down regarding Lightfoot’s designation of Medinah Temple as the temporary-casino site, in an apparent attempt to reward a george campaign donor. Said Zoning Committee Chairman Tom Tunney, an opponent of the rushed vote, “Even though Medinah is empty, it’s in the middle of a very congested area. They’re saying that there’s plenty of parking around the Medinah Temple because Medinah itself doesn’t have any parking. But parking was there before Medinah. So the question, in my opinion, is what’s the utilization rate right now? There’s a liquor moratorium. So the ordinance is going to exempt the casino from local liquor moratoriums. That’s a problem.”