Life just got a little more difficult for Atlantic City. Casino owners will have to dig into their pockets in order to defeat a ballot initiative to end their monopoly on casino gambling. The referendum mustered the necessary supermajorities to clear the New Jersey Legislature and, certain to be approved by Gov. Chris Christie (R), now heads for the November ballot, where it faces a still-unconvinced electorate. The other new wrinkle in the story is the increasing drumbeat of interest in a north Jersey casino from Las Vegas Sands, which is apparently too impatient for the five boroughs of New York to open up to casino gambling in 2022. The Press of Atlantic City, meanwhile, scratches its head in disbelief at lawmakers’ revival of the “boutique casino” bill, presumably thrown as a bone to local businessman Curtis Bashaw. “The too-familiar argument these days that it would boost Atlantic City and provide jobs is especially weak in this case, since casinos are already splitting a shrinking market,” opines the paper.
Bader Field, birthplace of the Civil Air Patrol, is back on the sale block again. The city balked at an $800 million offer from Penn National Gaming back in 2008. Now it would settle for $150 million. Glenn Straub says he’s interested, but not at that price. He’s positioning himself to be the “stalking horse” bidder, the one who sets the floor for the Bader Field auction. Proceeds will go towards retiring some of Atlantic City’s $437 million in debt.
* It’s back to Square 1.1 for Chinese businesssman Richard Suen, whose $70 million jury award — $115 million with fees and interest — got tossed by the Nevada Supreme Court. So there’s no payday for Suen, at least not yet: A new jury trial has been ordered to determine damages. Although Las Vegas Sands is claiming vindication, the Supremes held that Suen’s Round Square Co. showed “substantial evidence” of having “conferred a benefit onto” Sheldon Adelson when the latter was seeking a Macao casino. Suen is like a particularly persistent virus that Adelson can’t shake.
* The Mashpee Wampanoag have ditched the serpentine design for Project First Light in favor of a new, blocklike look that will presumably be easier to execute and — more importantly — cheaper. The casino is top priority, slated for a 2017 opening (trumping MGM Springfield and Wynn Everett), with the hotel towers to follow later.
