Caesars Preps for Possible Revel-ation in Atlantic City

Hail, Caesars Entertainment: the casino company may or may not be eyeing Atlantic City’s Revel as their newest acquisition
We doubt that the Roman emperor himself kept his name front and center as well as Caesars Entertainment Corporation does these days. And despite continuing to carry the gaming industry’s heaviest debt load hovering at the $24 billion mark, buying and building new properties doesn’t appear to be a problem for this casino conglomerate.
Lately, they are in talks with Japanese leaders to construct a potential new casino in Osaka just as video gaming is legalized in Japan, and now the news that is latest, according to some insider reports, is that they have their eye on Atlantic City’s issue son or daughter casino, Revel.
Could Revel Become Next on Their List?
Revel formally went into bankruptcy back in March 2013; not even 12 months into its once-gloriously touted entrance onto the beleaguered Atlantic City land gaming scene. Now anyone interested in snatching the casino up has under fourteen days to submit a bid, and according to Bloomberg, Caesars is not a slam dunk with this acquisition; neither is it even 100 % specific they will also move to take action.
Other contenders are definitely within the mix; those include Orlando-based tricky Rock Overseas, who the nyc Post last thirty days reported as being in ‘advanced negotiations’ for the purchase. That was following a decision by Hard Rock to scrap plans to build their very own casino in the New Jersey gambling mecca back 2012; reportedly because in a nutshell the casino business is pretty much down for the count in that town. With revenues dipped to a three-decade reduced myfreepokies.com in 2013 largely due to massive competition from surrounding states building something new sort of lost its appeal, evidently.
Who knows who to believe here, if the inside scoop at Bloomberg proves correct, Caesars would find yourself keeping five Atlantic City casinos, which is very nearly half associated with city’s staying 11 currently in operation. And that’s not even taking under consideration the Atlantic that is now-closed Club Caesars bought at a fire sale auction for practically nothing by the end of 2013.
NJDGE May Force A purchase
All of this acquisition that is local existence may well not sit well, however, with brand New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), which does not take fondly to exactly what would fundamentally amount to some antitrust issues by holding what the DGE refers to as ‘undue economic concentration’ in the town.
If the Revel purchase become reality, it would push Caesars presence in Atlantic City’s casinos up to 47.2 percent in terms of revenue shares.
What it all adds up to in this still very hypothetical situation is that the DGE could actually force Caesars to either sell off or shut straight down one of its other four extant gambling enterprises should they add Revel to their fold. Most obvious for that scenario would be either Bally’s or the Showboat, as their moneymakers don’t shake since well as Caesars AC or Harrah’s AC; the latter two have now been trailing just down from competitors Borgata (owned by MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming) on a basis that is monthly.
In terms of Revel, the casino has nowhere to go but up. Even pre-opening, investor Morgan Stanley had already chosen to write down near to one billion bucks in debt so they really wouldn’t have to sink anymore to the property’s money-pit construction funding. By the time Revel started its doorways in 2012 with a much-touted ‘no smoking anywhere in the casino’ policy all it mostly heard at the slot devices and tables was the noise of silence. Despite spending $2.4 billion on the casino, patrons in the somewhat more blue-collar Atlantic City demographic evidently don’t feel in the home there. And despite later reversing the no cigarette smoking dictum and marketing what some later called misleading ‘free money for play’ to gamblers, the true numbers simply never really picked up; for 2013, the casino came in eighth out of (then) 12 for Atlantic City’s general video gaming revenue ladder.
How much might Caesars or any bidder, for example ante up for Revel if they in fact buy it? No body knows yet. But also for both Caesars and Atlantic City, making more money than they spend might be a goal that is good 2014.
Foxwoods Fall River Casino Goes Official, But Nevertheless Needs a Site
Foxwoods is still in the game in Massachusetts, with Fall River now behind their casino project (Image: WBZ-TV)
Foxwoods may have been rejected in Milford, however they’re not stopping on the fantasy of a Massachusetts casino just yet. As has been speculated for some time now, Foxwoods and the town of Fall River will work together to produce a casino proposal that they wish should be able to win certainly one of the three casino licenses available in the state.
Economic Increase for City
The plans were announced at a press conference recently, in which Mayor William Flanagan and officials from Foxwoods made public their plan to bring a $750 million resort casino to the city. The mayor said that the casino could produce as many as 5,000 jobs for the city, which includes continued to experience an unemployment price that is far greater than that of Massachusetts as a whole.
Based on officials, the casino would feature 140,000 square feet of gaming, along side up to 20 restaurants, a hotel, a convention center and venues for concerts and other occasions.
‘We want this to be a destination here in Massachusetts as well as the Northeast,’ Mayor Flanagan said.
Foxwoods CEO and president Scott Butera agreed that the casino will be a ‘destination resort,’ saying that major properties such as the one they have planned are ‘economic engines like nothing else into the world.’
While Foxwoods was rejected from Milford, they feel confident that they’re going to be welcomed in Fall River.
‘ We understand it’s the home that is right us,’ Butera said.
Locals Support Foxwoods Venture
Neighborhood professionals on the casino industry agree with Butera’s assessment. Professor Clyde Barrow associated with the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth says that non-binding votes and polling that is public regularly shown support for a casino into the Fall River area.
‘ Assuming they get a site and certainly will negotiate a bunch contract, I have no doubt a casino proposal would pass in Fall River,’ stated Barrow.
Getting a site appears to be the largest sticking point in the plan at the moment. While Foxwoods features a rough plan of what they’d prefer to do in Fall River, they don’t yet have any land to build on yet.
Which was a major focus of the Tuesday press conference, as Mayor Flanagan appealed to owners who might potentially be willing to sell large parcels of land. Foxwoods is reportedly looking a website of 30 to 70 acres on which to build, with the mayor stating that a waterfront web site would be ideal.
Foxwoods should really be in a position to move quickly, once the casino firm has already undergone background checks and received a suitability ruling during their campaign to create a casino in Milford.
Foxwoods would now be competing for the casino license obtainable in Southeastern Massachusetts. While the licenses for Western Massachusetts and Greater Boston will be awarded in a matter of months, the Southeastern license was delayed as state regulators allowed the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to attempt to gain land on which to create a casino in Taunton. With that procedure seemingly stalled, their state gambling commission lifted the freeze on the Southeastern region year that is last. Foxwoods has become simply the 2nd business to look for a casino in the region, joining KG Urban, which is looking to build a casino in New Bedford.
For Foxwoods, the strange series of events that brought them to Fall River feels like divine intervention.
Nj Legislators Reintroduce International Online Gambling Bill
If brand new legislation undergoes in brand new Jersey, the Garden State could turn into a global player within the on line gaming universe.
The online gambling market in New Jersey might not be pulling in the enormous revenues that Governor Chris Christie predicted, but overall, the launch has been regarded as a success for the state’s casinos. But even as the New Jersey Internet market that is betting in its infancy, some legislators are thinking ahead to the way the state could capitalize on legal online gambling around the globe.
Going Global
A proposal that is new nj-new Jersey state senators Ray Lesniak and Jim Whelan would allow Atlantic City gambling enterprises and their partners who have actually earned online gambling licenses in the state to provide their games in other regulated jurisdictions since well. That would take New Jersey’s online offerings away from a cottage that is admittedly large and onto a much broader stage, where the potential earnings for casinos and also the local government are nearly limitless.
‘This starts up the market that is worldwide us, the $30 billion Big Kahuna,’ said Senator Lesniak.
This bill is perhaps not the first time New Jersey’s legislators have taken a look at where else the state’s licensees might offer their online gaming internet sites. The idea was very first floated by Lesniak last year, before the first web sites even went live. Under that version of the legislation, online gambling organizations from across the world could have been welcomed to New Jersey, potentially switching their state into a international gambling hub. That legislation was later changed to need companies to use specifically away from Atlantic City, and to remove a requirement that online gambling firms help fund the state’s horseracing industry.
Stepping Outside State Lines
The new version of the legislation simplifies those proposals. Under the plan that is current nj’s licensed casinos and their online gambling partners could be permitted to offer their services in other regulated jurisdictions. As opposed to bringing the planet of gambling to the state, it would allow New Jersey’s on-line casino industry to touch base to the massive worldwide market alternatively.
The bill would also need re payment processors to be licensed in the same way as nj’s casinos and their online gambling lovers. This would hopefully re solve some associated with the present issues players are having with financial institutions preventing online gambling payments from being processed for their state’s regulated web sites. Many major banks were wary of approving online gambling transactions for an assortment of reasons, including confusion over exactly how state and federal laws interact on this issue. It’s hoped that licensing payment processors could help ease these concerns.
Lesniak believes that such legislation would allow New Jersey to reap the maximum benefit from online gambling to its association.
‘[The bill] would put New Jersey at the hub of an international gaming industry that is expected to experience rapid growth in the years ahead,’ Lesniak said as he first introduced the bill in November. ‘The plan would help attract international gaming companies to New Jersey, producing jobs, state income and expansion that is economic.
‘Our company is well placed to make the most of a dynamic opportunity to be during the hub of a new business sector with the potential for economic growth and job creation,’ the senator added.
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