Atlantic City revels in new casino
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Atlantic City revels in new casino
Kai Ryssdal: For the first time in almost a decade, Atlantic City, N.J., has a new casino to celebrate. It’s called Revel — which comes off as kind of ironic, seeing as how there hasn’t actually been much reveling in New Jersey’s answer to Las Vegas. Gambling revenue is down a third from its peak before the recession.
Marketplace’s Jennifer Collins reports.
Jennifer Collins: Travel analyst Henry Harteveldt says Atlantic City needs to position itself as a getaway for more than just grandmas.
Henry Harteveldt: The challenge for Atlantic City is they need to figure out what they can own.
The resort Revel is aimed at younger customers with three pool areas, two nightclubs and a 5,000 seat theater. It’s already booked Beyonce and Maroon 5. Kevin DeSanctis is the CEO.
Kevin DeSanctis: If you live in the Northeast and you want to get away for two or three days and you don’t want to get on a plane, Atlantic City should be your first option.
The resort cost nearly $2.5 billion.
Mark Nichols teaches economics at the University of Nevada at Reno.
Mark Nichols: They have a lot of debt.
And paying that off won’t be easy.
Nichols: I’m not sure Atlantic City is going to change that much simply due to one casino.
That one casino, he says, may not be enough to bring in the revelers.
I’m Jennifer Collins for Marketplace.
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