Last week, the Press of Atlantic City reported a 5% drop in comping along the Boardwalk and Marina District. However, the story played it as merely a reflection of decreased business in Atlantic City. Yesterday, however, The Associated Press weighed in with a completely different take.
According to Spectrum Gaming Group's senior veep, Joe Weinert, the fanny-packers are getting left out of the comp action. "It's a conscious decision to cut back. They have to target their cash very carefully and cut out the low-end customers. They're being very careful about how they're throwing those free dollars around," he told reporter Wayne Parry.
Displaying the can't-do spirit that has made Colony Capital the scorn of the Boardwalk, Resorts Atlantic City CEO Nicholas Ribis told regulators the casino had given away "too much food, too much drink, too much everything." (Maybe if Colony would stop borrowing money it can't repay it wouldn't have to sweat the comps so much.)
Selected reductions in comping, as reported by the AP, are as follows (Jan. '08 vs. Jan. '09), rounded to the nearest full point:
Resorts: $7.8 million/$6.3 million (-19%)
Bally's: $15 million/$11.3 million (-25%)
Caesars: $12.4 million/$11.1 million (-10%)
Showboat: $9 million/$8 million (-11%)
Trump Marina: $6.5 million/$5.6 million (-14%)
Trump Plaza: $7 million/$6.1 million (-13%)
Most of those cuts roughly parallel the overall decline in the market. As for the "outlier," Bally's, a whopping comp cutback is certainly in keeping with the general decimation of that sprawling complex. I guess we know now which of its four Atlantic City casinos Harrah's Entertainment would put "in the sell block," if push came to shove.
"Off the box" redux: Since Donald Trump wants his name taken off bankrupt (again) Trump Entertainment Resorts, one reader has submitted a possible replacement moniker — "Blowhard Entertainment Resorts."
