Atlantic City is pretty much the Las Vegas of the east, or at
least WAS the Las Vegas of the east. It’s famous for its casinos and is
pretty much a gambling capital of the US (or was). However, it has
recently experienced financial troubles with lots of casinos closing
down or being on the verge of doing so. Donald Trump has gotten a lot of
criticism for his running of these casinos, and people argue that if he
doesn’t know how to keep casinos going, how can he run the country? I
don’t think this is a fair question, and I’m not a fan of Donald Trump.
Atlantic City is in trouble because increased competition from nearby
casinos in the area have taken away its once monopolistic status on
gambling on the east coast, and competition tends to drive weaker
casinos out of business.
The Economics
Basic economics would show that as the supply of something increases relative to demand, it becomes less valuable. This can cause profit margins to thin, and in the case of too many businesses and not enough people to support them, the weaker businesses will go out of business. This is precisely what’s happening here. New Jersey no longer is a gambling capital of the east coast. It faces increased competition from casinos in places like Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, Maryland, and Connecticut, and these casinos are often far closer and more convenient to reach, and in some cases provide more to do than Atlantic City’s casinos do.
Location, Location, Location
Location matters. It’s likely that if you want people to go to your business, that you to be in a good location. In the days when Atlantic City held a de facto monopoly in the area, since it is within driving distance of several major metropolitan areas that house millions of people, as well as smaller cities that house hundreds of thousands more, but when gambling is legalized elsewhere, like it has been in other states in recent years, location becomes a problem.
Let’s take a look at a map here on google maps. As you can see, AC is well within driving distance of New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and Washington DC, which are all along the I-95 corridor. To get to Atlantic city, which is in the boonies in southeastern New Jersey, you will need to go through some major metropolitan areas. If you are coming from New York, you will take route 9 down. if you come from Pennsylvania, you will be going through Philadelphia to get to the highways necessary to take you to AC. Something similar applies when you come up from Maryland and that general area. You will need to, at the very least, pass through Wilmington, DE, to get to Atlantic City. This is not very bad if you hold a de facto monopoly on gambling in the area, like they used to have, but let’s take a look at what happens when this isn’t the case.
Maryland, DC, Delaware
Coming up from Maryland, Delaware, and Washington DC, there are plenty of casinos for people to visit along the I-95 corridor and elsewhere. Baltimore seems to have a few, as does Delaware. There’s also one in West Virginia that is within driving distance of Baltimore and DC (not pictured here). Take note of the Hollywood Casino in Perryville, MD, and Delaware Park near Wilmington. These are directly on the route these people would take to get from the Baltimore and DC areas to Atlantic City. There are also several casinos along Delaware’s routes 1 and 13. Now tell me, why would you drive twice the distance to go to a casino when there are more and possibly better options closer to you? These casinos are going to sap business from anyone looking to go up to New Jersey.
Philadephia/Southeastern Pennsylvania
Remember what I said about the I95 corridor? Well, that curse only gets worse going into Pennsylvania. Anyone looking to travel from Philadelphia has local options, and anyone who has to travel to Philadelphia to get to Atlantic City is going to have many bright, shiny casinos along the way. There are four casinos along the I95 corridor near Philadelphia. I already mentioned Delaware Park, which is strategically placed in Wilmington, but there’s also Parx, Sugar House, and Harrah’s along the corridor in various parts of Philly. As a southeastern PA resident, I’ll just say some of these casinos look to be dumps to me. Harrah’s is in the ghetto of Chester, PA, and is located next to a prison, and Sugar House also is in a fairly uninviting neighborhood, but still, anyone who lives in Philly has more local options, and anyone traveling from Maryland, Pennsylvania, or even parts of New Jersey and New York has an alternative to AC here.
More casinos in Pennsylvania!
People who don’t even live in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, but who may live a little further northwest like in Allentown, Reading, Lancaster, Harrisburg, and Wilkes Barre/Scranton have even more options! There’s Valley Forge Casino near King of Prussia, which requires a membership, but is an option. Hollywood Casino near Harrisburg, Mohegan Sun in Wilkes Barre, Mount Airy in the Poconos, and Sands in Bethlehem are all options for anyone in Eastern Pennsylvania. Ignore that dot at Reading, that’s just a Penn National corporate office. Some of these casinos are also quite accessible from New York City, and are an equally long or even a shorter drive from the city to get to relative to Atlantic City.
New York City
New York City seems to have two casinos itself, the Resorts World Casino and the Empire City Casino. It also is within easy driving distance to most of those Pennsylvania casinos I mentioned. In addition, there are some casinos up in Connecticut and Rhode Island that may be decent.
Atlantic City doesn’t have a racetrack
This is more my personal opinion, but while Atlantic City may have a lot of casinos clustered together this doesn’t matter a whole lot. Does it really matter which casino you play in? There may be some personal preferences here, but the idea of having a ton of casinos close together is meaningless, you’re gonna lose your money at about the same rate and have just about as much fun no matter which one you go to. Meanwhile, one thing it definitely lacks is a racetrack. Horse racing can be fun to some, and can provide more activities in addition to simply going to a casino. It can be much cheaper too, since the minimum bets in casinos these days is very high relative to racetracks, and you will likely bet more often. Not having a racetrack makes it less competitive in my opinion, in addition to having a far off, remote location that you have to drive past several other casinos to get to.
Conclusion
All in all, Atlantic City thrived in a highly regulated and puritanical environment that outlawed gambling elsewhere, giving it a monopoly on gambling on the eastern seaboard, but with increased competition from casinos in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and even possibly Connecticut and Rhode Island, there is little point of going to Atlantic City these days. It is in a remote location relative to other casinos, and doesn’t even have a racetrack. You literally drive by several casinos just to go there in many cases, and many of them are probably just as good as what AC has to offer, if not better.
The Economics
Basic economics would show that as the supply of something increases relative to demand, it becomes less valuable. This can cause profit margins to thin, and in the case of too many businesses and not enough people to support them, the weaker businesses will go out of business. This is precisely what’s happening here. New Jersey no longer is a gambling capital of the east coast. It faces increased competition from casinos in places like Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, Maryland, and Connecticut, and these casinos are often far closer and more convenient to reach, and in some cases provide more to do than Atlantic City’s casinos do.
Location, Location, Location
Location matters. It’s likely that if you want people to go to your business, that you to be in a good location. In the days when Atlantic City held a de facto monopoly in the area, since it is within driving distance of several major metropolitan areas that house millions of people, as well as smaller cities that house hundreds of thousands more, but when gambling is legalized elsewhere, like it has been in other states in recent years, location becomes a problem.
Let’s take a look at a map here on google maps. As you can see, AC is well within driving distance of New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and Washington DC, which are all along the I-95 corridor. To get to Atlantic city, which is in the boonies in southeastern New Jersey, you will need to go through some major metropolitan areas. If you are coming from New York, you will take route 9 down. if you come from Pennsylvania, you will be going through Philadelphia to get to the highways necessary to take you to AC. Something similar applies when you come up from Maryland and that general area. You will need to, at the very least, pass through Wilmington, DE, to get to Atlantic City. This is not very bad if you hold a de facto monopoly on gambling in the area, like they used to have, but let’s take a look at what happens when this isn’t the case.
Maryland, DC, Delaware
Coming up from Maryland, Delaware, and Washington DC, there are plenty of casinos for people to visit along the I-95 corridor and elsewhere. Baltimore seems to have a few, as does Delaware. There’s also one in West Virginia that is within driving distance of Baltimore and DC (not pictured here). Take note of the Hollywood Casino in Perryville, MD, and Delaware Park near Wilmington. These are directly on the route these people would take to get from the Baltimore and DC areas to Atlantic City. There are also several casinos along Delaware’s routes 1 and 13. Now tell me, why would you drive twice the distance to go to a casino when there are more and possibly better options closer to you? These casinos are going to sap business from anyone looking to go up to New Jersey.
Philadephia/Southeastern Pennsylvania
Remember what I said about the I95 corridor? Well, that curse only gets worse going into Pennsylvania. Anyone looking to travel from Philadelphia has local options, and anyone who has to travel to Philadelphia to get to Atlantic City is going to have many bright, shiny casinos along the way. There are four casinos along the I95 corridor near Philadelphia. I already mentioned Delaware Park, which is strategically placed in Wilmington, but there’s also Parx, Sugar House, and Harrah’s along the corridor in various parts of Philly. As a southeastern PA resident, I’ll just say some of these casinos look to be dumps to me. Harrah’s is in the ghetto of Chester, PA, and is located next to a prison, and Sugar House also is in a fairly uninviting neighborhood, but still, anyone who lives in Philly has more local options, and anyone traveling from Maryland, Pennsylvania, or even parts of New Jersey and New York has an alternative to AC here.
More casinos in Pennsylvania!
People who don’t even live in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, but who may live a little further northwest like in Allentown, Reading, Lancaster, Harrisburg, and Wilkes Barre/Scranton have even more options! There’s Valley Forge Casino near King of Prussia, which requires a membership, but is an option. Hollywood Casino near Harrisburg, Mohegan Sun in Wilkes Barre, Mount Airy in the Poconos, and Sands in Bethlehem are all options for anyone in Eastern Pennsylvania. Ignore that dot at Reading, that’s just a Penn National corporate office. Some of these casinos are also quite accessible from New York City, and are an equally long or even a shorter drive from the city to get to relative to Atlantic City.
New York City
New York City seems to have two casinos itself, the Resorts World Casino and the Empire City Casino. It also is within easy driving distance to most of those Pennsylvania casinos I mentioned. In addition, there are some casinos up in Connecticut and Rhode Island that may be decent.
Atlantic City doesn’t have a racetrack
This is more my personal opinion, but while Atlantic City may have a lot of casinos clustered together this doesn’t matter a whole lot. Does it really matter which casino you play in? There may be some personal preferences here, but the idea of having a ton of casinos close together is meaningless, you’re gonna lose your money at about the same rate and have just about as much fun no matter which one you go to. Meanwhile, one thing it definitely lacks is a racetrack. Horse racing can be fun to some, and can provide more activities in addition to simply going to a casino. It can be much cheaper too, since the minimum bets in casinos these days is very high relative to racetracks, and you will likely bet more often. Not having a racetrack makes it less competitive in my opinion, in addition to having a far off, remote location that you have to drive past several other casinos to get to.
Conclusion
All in all, Atlantic City thrived in a highly regulated and puritanical environment that outlawed gambling elsewhere, giving it a monopoly on gambling on the eastern seaboard, but with increased competition from casinos in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and even possibly Connecticut and Rhode Island, there is little point of going to Atlantic City these days. It is in a remote location relative to other casinos, and doesn’t even have a racetrack. You literally drive by several casinos just to go there in many cases, and many of them are probably just as good as what AC has to offer, if not better.
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