Revel to close in September

I am absolutely shocked that Revel hasn't found a buyer. Atlantic City still has a lot of potential if people with big dreams and big wallets -- like Wynn or MGM -- decided to turn it into the Vegas of the East. What a missed opportunity AC is turning out to be.

 

Thanks for sharing the link/info. Good to hear they didn't put much taxpayer money into it..

 

this is a huge fallacy and the reason that the country is littered with failed casino projects and other failed development/resort/mixed use/entertainment projects

the concept of "building it and they will come" is a failed concept when attempting to repeat something that has already been done and availed themselves of the one instance where that concept played out and payed out

that concept for gambling in the USA was and is called Vegas......in the past when air travel was more rare, less frequent and more expensive AC could survive because it fed off of a massive NYC market that was not always able to get to Vegas

now with casino gambling in every truck stop bathroom from just about coast to coast AC has nothing to offer anyone and with $225 dollar flights 2X daily from here to there to everywhere there is no need to go to the scaled down kiddie sized halfassed fake Las Vegas in AC and that is just like real Las Vegas is finding out that when real Paris, real London, real Egypt real Florida sun coast and everywhere else also offer gambling or gambling close by suddenly fake all those places in Vegas is not as appealing either or when fake all those places in Vegas cost 2X what going to real those places cost and that does not include your gambling budget that is room, airfare, entertainment and food going to fake all those places in Vegas for another trip is not as appealing as going to real all those places on your next trip

if you are not going to feature gambling and the aspect of great gambling with great odds and large exciting crowds and all the newest games and cheap quality drinks while you play them then your location needs to offer something up besides gambling....... and if your location actually has something to offer up besides gambling them gambling is probably (has been proven to be) going to be a parasite on whatever it is that your location already offers

just like New Orleans found out......no one was heading to New Orleans to gamble......when they could gamble in New Orleans it came at the expense of other attractions in New Orleans because in the real world people do not simply shit out more cash for a trip because suddenly the location they are going to offers gambling

Las Vegas made itself when it was the only option and that was all there was and there was nothing else or little else but gambling and they did gambling better and bigger than anyone

now when you are just some torn up declining east coast shit hole with nothing to offer of any merit and you will NEVER offer what Vegas does in terms of entertainment or gambling or anything related you would need to dump tens if not hundreds of billions into your area to come close to being Vegas and that is simply not a sound investment and it will of course never be done in piecemeal fashion as well

and if you are some nice east coast, west coast or south coast location with something to actually offer that is different than other places or that you do well you would be much wiser to invest in that and to perfect that and to keep that at the top if it's game VS adding some shit hole casino with piss poor odds, no excitement, massive cost to recover and fake something else or even worse fake "right here" that is going to suck from and be a parasite upon what you actually have to offer

AC offers nothing that is not available anywhere else and during the time they did offer something that was only available elsewhere with more cost or greater effort they took all of that and pissed it away instead of reinvesting and as soon as everywhere else had the same to offer AC was back to just being shit with some dated and run down and poorly run casinos

and as Vegas is finding out when your "fake" in Vegas starts to cost a great deal more than "real" elsewhere and in real elsewhere people can find a crappy casino with poor odds to pop into and waste a few hundred dollars well suddenly real Vegas centered around fake elsewhere at a higher cost along wit the bad gambling is suddenly not as popular as well..... and when that is all you got and you will never have more.....you suffer

 

Theres NO POTENTIAL in Atlantic City! Sorry. I am a long fan but its dead. Too much saturation. That is why I think they would be better off catering to Day trippers and people who want to spend 1-2 nights ONLY. Trying to make atlantic city into something its not ( destination resort or other hogwash) WONT WORK! They tried and tried. Knock down the 2 places and build a stadium, small like a 12,000 seat joint! Draw people in for the day. Let them come, gamble, eat, watch a concert and off they go! Trying to draw them to AC and getting them to stay in a city that is crime ridden and really boring after being at the beach for 4 hours isn't cutting it! Cater to Gamblers with better Odds, comps, and reasonable entertainment prices and it will do ok. It's not the same anymore, everyone needs to realize that. Gambling is all over now, not just Vegas and AC.

 

Can someone explain - if the auction is supposed to happen tomorrow,
how do they know they are closing?

Does that mean there was not one qualified buyer, or I guess qualified
bidder? Or that no bids came close to what the owners ( which I think is
a hedge fund) want for the property in order to not lose any of their investment?

I am assuming they have received bids.

 

I have to say, man, I don't know that I'm totally on board with this. By giving CET a little coin-in at Harrah's New Orleans, I can keep my comps coming down in NOLA. And then I'm in a totally comped room with all the city's charms at my doorstep. So in a 72 hour weekend there, I spend maybe 2 hours inside the casino, just to show them a little play, and then I get free rooms galore so I can do other NOLA-specific stuff for the other 97% of the trip. Throw in enough points on SWA to fly there for free, and you got yourself a totally comped vacation.

 

I agree. My wife and I love the city. Its the ideal vacation for us. Wife and I eat at great restos, hear local music. We walk around the city and enjoy the art and culture. I get my gambling fix on vacation, and the CET comps in this market have been way more generous than the Vegas market, at least for me. We probably spend more on vacation, since I supplement our vacation with my gaming bankrole, which I would not normally spend on an R&R vacation to the beach or NYC.

 

just to be clear I am not saying that anyone that gambles in the New Orleans casino is an asshole but I am saying that anyone that goes there primarily to gamble or that said to themselves "New Orleans finally has gambling now it is worth going" or "finally a casino I hope they have an Emerils restaurant or some great Cajun and Seafood!" needs their head examined

just like I would say the same about anyone that would go to San Diego, Hawaii, Miami or Fort Lauderdale or any similar place based on the fact that those places might suddenly get gambling......or that would think those places would dramatically improve with a large influx of gambling

and even more so from the perspective of people that actually live and work in those types of places if the best "economic development" idea that your city government can come up with is casino gambling then you know you have a city government filled with assholes......because it has sure never paid off for AC and it looks like at this point it never will even if there was opportunity for it to change the long term future of AC at one time a decade or two ago......now it is way too late for that

and as to what Funkhouser said again it proves the point that overall casino gambling across the USA is beyond mature.....so perhaps New Orleans gets a few more dollars in their local economy because you gamble some of your gambling budget there, but that comes at the expense of Vegas and AC and anywhere else as you stated

and the vast majority of people in the USA probably can't even do a budget much less do they have a vacation budget AND a gambling budget as well to take a bit of the gambling budget and spend it at some place that happens to have a casino in addition to the attractions that actually make the place worth going to.....but again at the expense of Vegas or AC or anywhere else

there is no build it and they will come in the USA for entertainment, gambling and vacation dollars those things are tapped out and even if one place can "be the new kid on the block" it will come at the expense of somewhere else and more than likely when the new wears off it will be a failed investment.....the New Orleans casino has only gone broke 2 times and they only had to dramatically reduce the amount of taxes paid to the city and state several times along with building a hotel and restaurants (as they agreed to not do) before they finally have gone a period of time without going broke again

 

It cannot be stated enough how badly AC officials and the NJ government swung and missed on this project and their overall projections on Atlantic City.

Back in the day when they were the only game in town for the Eastern seaboard they could do no wrong.

But as soon as the local casinos started popping up they needed to readjust their vision and focus and they did not. They also failed to control the crime and other issues that plagued AC for years.

It is sad for them to be shuttering so many places but then again...it is of no fault but their own.

 

The board of directors for Revel met on Monday and determined that the bids or bidders were not qualified and cancelled the auction. Very sad, this place was financed by Morgan Stanley who basically wrote off 90% of its $1.2 billion investment before it was finished. The State came in and offered $262 million in tax credits over 20 years so that Revel could get financing to complete construction. In retrospect, it should never have been built.

This place loses $2 million a month and so the board decided that the business cannot continue and will shut down. There was a mention of a monthly utility and tax bill of $5 million just to open the doors. Several of the casinos buy chilled water and steam from plants off the island for heating and cooling.

Like others, I recently received a mailer last week announcing concerts through November. I would like to know what is the status of the $262 million tax credit and if it stays with the property after two bankruptcies.

With that said, the waves are still rolling in, the weather is great in September, kids are back in school, mid week rates will be reasonable, there are 7 remaining properties with good games, so come on down! There is a great little beach about two blocks north of Ventnor with a restroom nearby, no beach tags needed and it's not too hard to find a parkling spot.

Several folks on this board frequently mention the $300 + room rates on weekends, but as someone who has gone to the Jersey shore my whole life, this is business as usual and a product of supply and demand. These weekend rooms go to the high rollers so I won't pay those rates, I will stay offshore in Pleasantville, or Absecon (which has great access to the Marina). There is a Groupon for the Red Roof Inn for $38 (limited dates), this is a former Fairfield Inn that was refurbished just a few years before it changed to a Red Roof. But if you want to stay in AC, go Sunday-Thursday.

 

Thanks Hammie. I didn't realize the auction was cancelled.

I think AC has to be looked at as not a vacation spot but as a getaway spot.
That's how we see it. Somewhere we don't have to fly to that gets us away from
the house, work and kids. I don't know anyone who thinks if it as a vacation in the
real sense of "going on vacation"

We don't stay more than 2 nights and have a nice meal, gamble some (or a lot) and just
enjoy time alone. Now, if we didn't live in NJ I don't know if we would do that just like
we have never been to a Pa casino. Have ventured to Ct but it was years ago and it just took too
long to get there.

And as far as the cost of rooms, if you pay it a few times and gamble you will almost always get
a discount or comped room after a while. We have been going for years so we are comped at CET
borgata and Revel.

 

Gambling has reached maturity in the US. I'll give you that. IMHO Vegas only saw the growth it did before the collapse because you had a lot of people in CA and surrounding areas with a large chunk of false wealth. This came in the form of home equity from inflated home values. People were living high on the hog with HELOC's. Then the housing bust happened and all that false wealth evaporated. Vegas will never see the same level of growth it did pre 2007, or at least not during my lifetime.
AC has failed to evolve and can't survive as a gaming only destination anymore.

As to whether gambling makes a difference, Gambling is another amenity I look for when I vacation. If I am planning a trip I will take that into consideration. Will it be my sole basis for decision, no. When given the choice between two comparable destinations where one offers legalized gaming and the other does not. I personally will always take the one that offers gaming. Your also right in saying that it does not increase my annual spend in gaming, just shifts that money around to other markets, but that's probably with everything people spend money on in life, except maybe healthcare.

 

Where have they tried and tried? Other than a generic marketing campaign that looks like it could be used for any casino town anywhere in the country and the politicians asking people to come down to AC they haven't done anything. They don't invest in really cleaning up the beaches, they don't invest in really building up the boardwalk and incentivizing the right kinds of businesses to open up on it, they don't really invest in cleaning up the city or at least the area surrounding the casinos.

Agree completely.

AC never readjusted their vision the way operators in Vegas have. They've made a few half-hearted attempts at improving restaurants and nightlife but nothing that looks like it was done with serious intent. On one hand they want to blame their misfortunes on the increased competition from a bunch of local casinos spread out all over the northeast. But on the other hand they try to claim they are a destination resort with more to offer than just gambling. So which is it?

Revel will be sold. If not by the current board then it will go into receivership and be sold by the receiver. But at this point whether it will be sold as a continuing operation or just for scrap is harder to say, and that is pretty crazy to think about.

 

They really needed an innovative mind leading the charge to change. Like you mentioned...not the catchy slogan(s) or half-hearted attempts to improve restaurants or bars or nightlife...but rather a complete redefinition of the area.

Many people in the northeast are parochial in the sense that they stay in that area for vacations. My family was the same way for years! We went down the shore (Cape May) and then later Rehoboth to buy places because Cape May was so expensive. We took vacations to NJ or to attractions in the northeast. This still holds true today. Shit...I booked a room down Cape May and it was $300+ a night because people will pay it. Why? Been going there for years.

So AC's resorts operators could have jumped on the summer shore crowds. Run daily shuttles from the shore points to the casinos for beach goers to get a little taste of gambling for a night. Or go after the actual beach crowds to stay in AC in the casino/hotels with enticing deals. Got all those rooms to fill up? Offer someone a better price than $300-400 per night and fill them up.

Get creative with free play offers, dining credits and other comp related items to entice the gambler to pass on driving over to Harrah's Chester, Sugarhouse, PARX or Valley Forge to play.

Really focus on cleaning up the area and making it desirable to walk about the area in the evening much like walking the promenade in Cape May or the boardwalk in Wildwood. Repeated robberies, harassment by beggars and the like doesn't make it to where someone wants to go there.

I could go on and on...but the bottom line is they did not do enough. They thought the huge resorts would be enough. They were wrong.

Oh...and if they would have legalized sports betting it would probably have saved a large portion of the hotels and casinos. THAT is a reason for people to drive down there. If I still lived outside Philly I would make the 2hr trip to bet sports.

Look at the line of cars trekking down 95 to go to Delaware Park to bet the parlay cards there....AC and NJ screwed themselves.

 

Casino will now close Sept 2nd at 5 pm. Hotel will close on Sept 1 at 11 am.

 

I read that also,I was at the GN tonight(sat.) and the word from my friend there is that it could even be in the next day or two. He talked to guy who works at Revel who said it's just dead for a saturday.
Either way I'm sorry for the thousands of people losing their jobs in the next month.

 

Nobody wants to waste their money on a place that's going to close at the end of the month. They are just going to the other casinos where they will be able to get future comps and other offers instead.

 

Exactly, even though Showboat is closing Aug 31st. I will go there this weekend because 10X TR on Thursdays and 5X
multiplier every day comps. I can use those at any Caesars property. One of the reasons I didn't go top Revel is their attitude towards gamblers and no affiliations with any other properties. Too bad to waste $2.5B and be uppity toward a possible customer base.

 

I sure hope they don't close in a day or 2. I have a comped room from them for next weekend. I don't plan on playing there though. It doesn't make any sense when I can't use any future comps from a casino that won't be in existence. I will give my action to Showboat next door since I can use comps earned there at other CET properties. It's a real shame 2.5 billion down the drain.

 

If anyone believes AC was going to survive after Pennsylvania opened their casinos then they are either blind or ignorant. I live in western Pa. and prior to 2006 only had Wheeling Island, Mountaineer or AC to choose from now we have the Rivers, Meadows, Lady Luck and Rocky Gap at our disposal. There was a time where there was bus service to AC from all parts of Pa. operating around the clock. We would board a bus in the morning be in AC by 1:00 pm gamble for much of the day and be back home by 2 or 3 in the morning. I lived in Delaware when they opened their casinos in 1994 and back then the people in AC did not think those openings would affect profits it did not like when Pa opened but it started the ball rolling. Also AC from the day after Labor Day up until Memorial Day historically has always been dead slow except for those rare weekends with big events. So many times since the late 1980's we would be in any given AC casino during the week and there were only a handful of people on the boardwalk or in the casinos. When Revel was planned and discussed I remember so many saying this was the "shot in the arm AC needed" no it wasn't. How can anyone possibly think that a 2.8 billion $$$$ resort casino survive in AC with all the competition that was already killing the town. My prediction for the next wave of casino closings (2015) include Resorts and Golden Nugget.

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