Atlantic City casinos seen hurt by neighbor states

New York (Reuters) – New Jersey’s Atlantic City casinos could lose 12.3 percent of their „gross gaming revenues“ once New York and Pennsylvania install their planned video lottery terminals, a new report said on Wednesday.

The report, commissioned by the New Jersey treasurer, also analyzed how much revenue New Jersey might generate if it allowed the addition of video lottery terminals at the state’s three race tracks: Meadowlands Racetrack, Monmouth Raceway and Freehold Raceway.

The report by Christiansen Capital Advisors, LLC said video lottery terminals would not be barred by the New Jersey constitution and estimated that adding them to the Meadowlands would generate USD 114 million of net revenue for New Jersey.

Though the state’s constitution gives Atlantic City, now home to a dozen casinos, a monopoly on slot machines, video lottery terminals have passed muster in other states with similar bans. That is because video lottery terminals are viewed as electronic lotteries, unlike slots, which are considered games of chance.

Previous efforts to add video lottery terminals to New Jersey’s race courses failed, partly due to Atlantic City’s opposition.

While Pennsylvania has already started adding as many as 61,000 slot machines, it is not clear when New York state will follow suit, as its plans have repeatedly stalled.