{"id":70955,"date":"2018-02-25T14:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-02-25T22:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=70955"},"modified":"2018-02-24T12:55:43","modified_gmt":"2018-02-24T20:55:43","slug":"showboat-atlantic-city-could-reopen-but-as-what-still-up-in-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/showboat-atlantic-city-could-reopen-but-as-what-still-up-in-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Showboat Atlantic City Could Reopen, But as What Still Up in the Air"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Showboat Atlantic City owner Bart Blatstein has taken the first steps towards obtaining a casino license from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). But whether or not he’s up to the task of running a venue that had failed in the past is up for discussion.<\/p>\n

\"Showboat
Showboat Atlantic City owner Bart Blatstein might re-open the casino at the Boardwalk resort, but can he make a successful go of it?. (Image: Ann Orso\/Billy Penn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During an interview this week with CBS Philly<\/i>, Nevada-based gaming analyst Roger Gros questioned why Blatstein believes he can operate a profitable gaming floor there, while previous owner Caesars Entertainment opted to shutter the space.<\/p>\n

\n

“There hasn’t been any improvement within the facility, so I don\u2019t know why he thinks he can he can run a casino profitably when that wasn’t the case when it was operated by the largest gaming corporation in America, Caesars.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Showboat was the first of four Atlantic City casinos to close in 2014. At the time, Caesars said the gaming floor was still turning a profit, but decided to close the resort in an effort to reduce competition for its three other AC casinos: Caesars, Harrah’s, and Bally’s.<\/p>\n

Stockton University acquired the Showboat from Caesars in 2014 for $18 million. After the school was blocked from opening the facility as a student housing and satellite campus, it was sold to Blatstein for $23 million in January of 2016.<\/p>\n

Neighbors With Benefits<\/b><\/h2>\n

Showboat Atlantic City is ideally positioned on the Boardwalk between the closed Trump Taj Mahal and Revel, two casino resorts that will respectively become Hard Rock Atlantic City<\/a> and Ocean Resort Casino later this year.<\/p>\n

Gros believes Blatstein is simply looking to steal some passing foot traffic. “I think [he] is just probably hoping for some spillover from those properties, and unless he has something special up his sleeve, I can’t see it working,” Gros told CBS Philly<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

Hard Rock is spending over $500 million to strip the Taj’s Indian d\u00e9cor and reimagine the property into a rock ‘n’ roll-themed destination. Ocean Resort is spending some $175 million to ready the $2.4 billion Revel, which has been vacant since 2014.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Earlier this month, Blatstein filed a “statement of compliance” with the DGE, the first step in obtaining a casino license<\/a> in New Jersey. The Philadelphia-based real estate developer said he’s “just starting the process,” but hasn’t indicated if he’s fully committed to bringing gambling back to the property.<\/p>\n

Boxing > Millennials<\/b><\/h2>\n

Showboat has seemingly been a trial-and-error investment for Blatstein. He originally marketed the hotel-only resort as an alternative for tourists who wanted to avoid a casino environment during an Atlantic City stay.<\/p>\n

He also targeted millennials by hosting the Atlantic City Fan Xpo. Intended to run each weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2017, the Xpo was to welcome a new millennial-focused theme each week, but the series was abruptly canned in late June due to poor attendance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With that demographic a bust, Bartstein is looking to another audience entirely, and bringing back boxing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This weekend, a match was held at the Showboat for the first time in nearly a decade. Promoted by New Jersey-based Rising Star Promotions, the main event featured Thomas LaMannna against Gabriel Bracero<\/a> in the Fecarbox Championship. Showboat’s 1,500-seat venue nearly sold out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Showboat Atlantic City owner Bart Blatstein has taken the first steps towards obtaining a casino license from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). But whether or not he’s up to the task of running a venue that had failed in the past is up for discussion. During an interview this week with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":70959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,18,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShowboat Atlantic City Could Reopen, But as What Still Up in the Air<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Showboat Atlantic City owner is mulling opening a casino at the hotel-only facility, but whether he can make a go of it is still to be determined.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Showboat Atlantic City Could Reopen, But as What Still Up in the Air\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Showboat Atlantic City owner is mulling opening a casino at the hotel-only facility, but whether he can make a go of it is still to be determined.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/showboat-atlantic-city-could-reopen-but-as-what-still-up-in-the-air\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-25T22:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-24T20:55:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_4971-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1713\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/showboat-atlantic-city-could-reopen-but-as-what-still-up-in-the-air\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/showboat-atlantic-city-could-reopen-but-as-what-still-up-in-the-air\/\",\"name\":\"Showboat Atlantic City Could Reopen, But as What Still Up in the Air\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/showboat-atlantic-city-could-reopen-but-as-what-still-up-in-the-air\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/showboat-atlantic-city-could-reopen-but-as-what-still-up-in-the-air\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_4971-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-25T22:00:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-24T20:55:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"The Showboat Atlantic City owner is mulling opening a casino at the hotel-only facility, but whether he can make a go of it is still to be determined.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/showboat-atlantic-city-could-reopen-but-as-what-still-up-in-the-air\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/showboat-atlantic-city-could-reopen-but-as-what-still-up-in-the-air\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/showboat-atlantic-city-could-reopen-but-as-what-still-up-in-the-air\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_4971-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_4971-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1713,\"caption\":\"Showboat Atlantic City owner Bart Blatstein might re-open the casino at the Boardwalk resort. 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