With lodging typically at a premium—and premium price—for visitors to host cities of the Super Bowl, the head of Caesars Entertainment’s Eastern division says he sees opportunity in the fact that Super Bowl XLVIII will be played in his state.
Although the site of the Super Bowl is 125 miles away at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, Caesars Senior Vice President Kevin Ortzman told the MyCentralJersey.com website that the operator will heavily market its Harrah’s, Bally’s, Caesars and Showboat casino-hotels in Atlantic City to the estimated 200,000 tourists heading to New Jersey for the Super Bowl.
“Really from a new customer perspective, there’s going to be hundreds of thousands of new people coming to this market for the game,” Ortzman told the website, “and if we just speculate that it’s going to be a Denver and Seattle game, you’re going to have a whole West Coast population coming to New Jersey that otherwise wouldn’t be here.
“Super Bowl weekend is always a fun one in Atlantic City,” added Matthew Levinson, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. “A number of casinos will have events or promotions like they always do to entertain all their guests. I’m sure the restaurants, the spas and the clubs will be busy as well. It is a party atmosphere in Atlantic City with each of the casinos.
“Having the Super Bowl in the state is an added benefit because any big event helps the image of the entire state — North, Central and South Jersey included.”
“We have a lot of offerings geared toward the big game, and we think that will make it a compelling reason to drive that extra hour to experience a great event,” said Ortzman. “It’s really a one-stop shopping if you will. The game will be televised, we have gourmet restaurants, we’ll have a tailgate party open to the public, entertainment surrounding that event, and warm, comfortable hotel rooms.”
