Mark Giannantonio speaks for many people when he says what he’ll miss about 2020: Nothing. As in nada. As in zip.
Like others in the gaming industry, the CEO and president of Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City has been forced to deal with the fallout of Covid-19, which struck full-bore in March and forced major sports to curtail and delay their seasons. The pandemic shut down casinos completely for a few months, and hampered operations after they returned. The result was devastating for the casino industry.
Take Atlantic City, which had enjoyed 21 months of gains until March, pre-pandemic. Overall, casino win through November declined almost 45 percent citywide, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. Resorts alone saw casino win decline more than 43 percent through November.
“My hopes for 2021 are a return to socialization and interaction among all people, so that all those who have been hurt in 2020 can find prosperity and happiness,” Giannantonio told GGB News.
Yet amid such economic devastation, online gaming enjoyed a noticeable leap. Mobile sports betting grew 23.6 percent in the casinos, especially with the return of major sports by the summer. And iGaming ratcheted up 101 percent. While these two elements could not override the effect on land-based casinos, they did soften the blow.
Still, no one wants to revisit 2020 again.
“From a business perspective, there’s very little I will miss from 2020,” said Frank Freedman, chief operating officer of Four Winds Casinos in Michigan and Indiana. “Certainly not Zoom meetings, thermal cameras, Plexiglas everything and face masks. I will, however, value the lessons learned, the teamwork and camaraderie shared, and the value of being an eternal optimist.”
Joe Lupo, president of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, looked beyond the downturn. “But I’ll remember the hard work and effort that our team and community provided to make it through the year,” he said.
With 2021 around the corner, industry officials are optimistic for the coming year. They see the vaccine that’s just rolling out as an important development. “It gives us hope that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and confidence that we will rebuild and recover from this unprecedented crisis,” said Steve Callender, president, Casino Association of New Jersey, who added that no other region in New Jersey has been more severely impacted by this pandemic than Atlantic County.
Added Lupo, “I hope like most, that the vaccine can be effective, roll out as fast as possible and provide the safe means to a healthier country and world.”
Callender hopes that employees and guests achieve health and safety in the coming year. Beyond the vaccine, much depends on improving opportunities to recover, he said.
“Allowing dining after 10 p.m. is critical to provide a much-needed economic boost and bring more jobs back. It will also be important to resume taking bookings for conventions and trade shows in Atlantic City as quickly as possible so that in June or July, we have the reservations already in place to support substantial increases in employment and non-gaming business.”
Freedman would like to see 2021 bring a return of the “hospitality industry as we knew it, with all the thousands of unemployed workers having the opportunity for gainful employment and prosperity.”
Tom Cantone, president of sports and entertainment for Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, says 2021 will be all about live entertainment again, something he’s brought back to a degree at MGE’s flagship property, Mohegan Sun, in Connecticut. ”If those 85 percent of people who still are holding onto their tickets come to see a show in (Mohegan Sun Arena), that will signal the end to the pandemic,” he said.
Cantone said he’s found a measure of personal value amid the pandemic restrictions. “It’s been a unique opportunity to reconnect at home, where all things matter. We found ways to communicate better and appreciate the value of friends and family more.
“Isn’t it ironic that while we were told to be socially distant from each other, we got closer in many ways? We were not made to be in isolation,” he concluded, “but I’ll miss being home more.”
