Is Atlantic City a lost cause?

It wasn’t long ago that newly installed Mayor Don Guardian promised a new day for Atlantic City.

Well, it didn’t take long for 3 major casinos to announce they’d be closing by the end of September – and with it a good chunk of revenue the city depends on.

Plus the added problem of those who will be left out of work once those casinos close.
So what’s the problem?

Could it be the failed attempt to install sports betting – seeing is how the Governor is unwilling to go against federal law, calling it “sacrosanct?”

Perhaps the oversaturation of the gambling market by the addition of casinos in Pennsylvania and New York.

And then there’s always the perception of Atlantic City being “Camden by the Sea.”

Those are just a few of the contributing factors - which will, unless someone comes up with a better business model, hasten its demise.
All leading to the perception that Atlantic City is a “lost cause!”

There are some who think the problem has been that the business model has been wrong.
According to this:

Moody’s pins the city’s struggle mostly on its dependence on one industry. About 70 percent of taxes come from casinos, whose revenue has slid for seven straight years as competition from neighboring states intensifies. While Las Vegas has rebounded, drawing tourists with conventions and restaurants, Atlantic City remains largely a place for gambling day-trippers.

The demise of Revel is “more confirmation that they’re headed in the wrong direction,” said Matt Dalton, chief executive officer of White Plains, New York-based Belle Haven Investments, which manages about $2 billion of municipal bonds. “They don’t have the money to spend on what it’s really going to take to rejuvenate that area and bring people in.”

“You want the casinos to be an accoutrement, not the main stuff,” said John Mousseau, director of fixed income at Cumberland Advisors, which manages $2.9 billion from Vineland, New Jersey. “They’ve got a bad business model in terms of everything being based on the casinos.”

It wasn’t long ago I suggested legalizing prostitution and regulating it. Perhaps if Mayor Guardian wants to make use of a hulk of a building that Revel will become once it closes, that might not be a bad idea.

One hell of a brothel!

However, you know as well as I do that it’s not just the business model that's contributing to the resort's demise.

If you could fix Atlantic City – what would you do?