Lawmakers in New Jersey have agreed a deal to send financial support to the US state’s gambling resort of Atlantic City, following a sharp drop in casino revenue during recent years. Total casino revenue in the resort for the 12 months to December 31, 2015, came in at $2.2 billion (€2 billion), down from $5.2 billion in 2006, partially due to the closure of four of its 12 casinos in 2014. With some analysts predicting that revenue will fall again this year, the state has agreed to step in by approving a measure to extend bridge loans and grants to…

The state of affairs in Atlantic City continues to get more tense. The city’s mayor Don Guardian has threatened to shut down City Hall this Friday and said he will cease all non-essential government services unless he can get a bail out from the state. However, Governor Chris Christie is having no part of the threats: “I tell you what we’re not going to do. We’re not write a blank check to the government,” Christie said to a local radio host in an interview. Christie continued, “They should not play chicken with me or test me. I will not change…

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has openly voiced his support for a revised plan to rescue the US state’s gambling resort of Atlantic City. Introduced by Christie alongside Senate President Steve Sweeney and Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, the plan combines elements of previous strategies to help save the struggling gambling hub. Christie, who is keen for the plan to be cleared by the end of February, said the strategy would allow the state to restructure city debt and terminate municipal contracts, including those with labour unions. New Jersey already controls the city’s budget, hiring and other finances, but previous…

Atlantic City’s former Trump Plaza casino is likely to remain closed for at least 10 years following a judge’s approval Thursday of a deed restriction prohibiting anyone from re-opening it as a casino. Delaware bankruptcy court Judge Kevin Gross approved the deed restriction imposed by Trump Entertainment Resorts on the former casino, which shut down on Sept. 16, the last of four Atlantic City casinos to do so last year. The restriction prevents anyone from re-opening Trump Plaza as a casino for 10 years, although it could be used for a non-gambling purpose. It was done to avoid potentially higher…

Atlantic City’s efforts to recapture some of the tourism dollars it has lost to casino competition in recent years finally appear to be working. Nine years ago, the city’s casinos started realizing they needed to offer more than just gambling if they still wanted visitors. They doubled down on expensive investments like additional hotel towers, restaurants, swimming pools, spas, shopping, nightclubs and concert venues. Now, cash sales at non-gambling outlets within casinos represent 28.5 percent of revenue, up from 22.3 percent two years ago, and bars have increased their payrolls by nearly 39 percent in the past two years, according…

With proposals to expand casino gambling to other parts of New Jersey gaining momentum, Atlantic City is faced with an existential choice: fight to the end to try to keep it from happening, or accept it as inevitable and extract the most concessions it can from new, in-state competitors. It’s a question the city and its political and business supporters need to answer soon. Two bills that would ask voters whether to amend the state constitution and expand gambling beyond Atlantic City have been proposed, and lawmakers are touting casino projects in the Bergen County Meadowlands, Jersey City, Newark and…