New York competition, smoking, internet betting concerns roil US northeast's gambling market

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Casinos successful the northeastern U.S. are dealing with galore challenges arsenic they brace for the accomplishment of caller competitors successful New York City.

A imaginable smoking prohibition successful Atlantic City, an ongoing statement implicit whether net gambling hurts oregon helps the bottommost enactment of carnal casinos, and the nonaccomplishment of concern to amerciable online operations were among the challenges identified Wednesday during a large casino league successful Atlantic City.

Panelists astatine the East Coast Gaming Congress astatine the Hard Rock casino discussed turmoil successful the industry, peculiarly arsenic it prepares for the influx of 3 downstate New York casinos wide expected to redefine the determination gambling market.

New York is successful the process of choosing casino sites and preparing to respond to hundreds of questions from imaginable casino operators earlier it moves person to awarding licenses.

Mark Giannantonio, president of Atlantic City's Resorts casino and of the Casino Association of New Jersey, said his metropolis has “a two-year window” to hole itself for the caller contention from its bluish neighbor.

“We spot New York gaming successful wide intelligibly arsenic a threat,” helium said, expecting stronger contention for customers from the portion and from different countries who volition take to sojourn and gamble successful New York.

He besides said New York casinos volition impact competitors successful eastbound Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

Giannantonio said Atlantic City needs to amended its cleanliness, infrastructure and nationalist information successful bid to conscionable the situation of caller competition.

“Casinos tin lone bash truthful much,” helium said. “We supply the jobs, the capital. Let's lucifer the streets with the beauteous aspects of the ocean. Let's instrumentality attraction of our stateless colonisation erstwhile and for all. There needs to beryllium an concern and programs that volition instrumentality a stateless idiosyncratic from the streets oregon nether the Boardwalk and get them the assistance they need.”

Mayor Marty Small did not instantly respond to a petition for remark Wednesday afternoon.

Stacey Rowland, seat of the New York Gaming Association, said the upcoming caller casinos successful her authorities are looking to seizure gambling dollars presently going to different states.

“Competition is simply a bully thing,” she said. “The contention from New York City volition beryllium a information (for rivals) to measurement up.”

Atlantic City besides is facing a relentless propulsion by casino workers who privation to extremity smoking connected the gambling floor. They person been urging lawmakers to walk a measure to prohibition smoking, and they precocious filed a suit to overturn a authorities instrumentality that exempts Atlantic City's casinos from the state's indoor cleanable aerial law.

Giannantonio called a smoking prohibition “one of the top threats to our concern close now.”

He predicted it would pb to the nonaccomplishment of arsenic galore arsenic 2,500 casino jobs and millions successful mislaid authorities taxation revenue. He supports a compromise connection to let smoking to proceed distant from array games and successful areas wherever nary worker would beryllium forced to work.

Casino workers cull those claims and accidental the gambling halls volition bash amended financially by attracting non-smoking customers who present debar them.

“Casino executives support making the aforesaid discredited claims and are promoting a mendacious compromise that volition lone proceed to unit us, their ain employees, to respire toxic aerial astatine our jobs each day," said Lamont White, a Borgata trader and a person of the worker non-smoking movement. “They don’t springiness a damn astir the crab and bosom illness and changeable and COPD and countless different diseases that effect from this unacceptable enactment situation that each different New Jersey idiosyncratic doesn’t person to face.”

Some states are taking a renewed look astatine net gambling arsenic a mode to rise caller revenue. It presently is ineligible successful New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Giannantonio said online gambling has helped Atlantic City's carnal casinos. Resorts has a palmy online arm, and it is affiliated with the DraftKings sportsbook.

But Rob Norton, president of Cordish Gaming Group and the Live! casinos, including properties successful Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida, said net casino gambling has had a detrimental effect connected brick-and-mortar casinos.

“It is cannibalizing,” Norton said. Speaking for the manufacture successful general, helium said, “The attack we're taking close present is pitting ourselves against ourselves.”

His viewpoint is disputed by others successful the industry, who accidental they person seen net gambling complement their brick-and-mortar casino businesses.

“For New Jersey, it has been additive,” Giannantonio said. Resorts, helium said, has successfully integrated its lawsuit loyalty programme crossed its carnal and online arms.

Online sports betting has been “a funnel for i-gaming” and in-person gamblers, helium said.

“We get a batch of radical who stake sports online who travel into our carnal determination to spot a bet,” Giannantonio said.

The panelists each mentioned amerciable offshore gambling sites and land-based unlicensed and unregulated slot machines arsenic different menace to the casino industry.

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