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FILE – In this June 28, 2018 file photo, celebrities and VIPs break guitars as part of the grand opening ceremony at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, even after spent half a billion dollars Casino, Hard Rock still hopes to build one in northern New Jersey near New York City one day. Jim Allen, CEO, says the company owns part of the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford and that it has the exclusive right to operate a casino there. A proposal to allow this was categorically defeated by voters in 2016. (Seth Wenig, File / Associated Press)
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – Even after spending half a billion dollars in an Atlantic City casino, Hard Rock still hopes to build one in northern New Jersey near of New York City
Hard Rock CEO Jim Allen said the company had made significant investments in cash and time to prepare for casino games at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford
"We have an exclusive right to Meadowlands.
A proposal to allow this was categorically defeated by voters in 2016. But Allen said the company had not abandoned the idea
. The new Hard Rock casino to what was once the Trump Taj Mahal, Allen said every study projects a casino in Meadowlands would do well, with 14 million people living within 50 miles of it.
"Yes, we would certainly be interested," he said Thursday.
An Associated Press analysis of the Meadowlands Casino proposal in 2016 concluded that it could be among the most successful in the country – at least until a casino is opened in New York even, if it ever happens.
Jeff Gural, who operates Meadowlands According to him, a casino Meadowlands would absorb $ 800 to $ 900 million a year from players, which would rank it among the best in the country.Some analysts believe that a Meadowlands casino could exceed $ 1 billion in annual revenue, at less before having a close competitor in northern New Jersey.
And since then, the US Supreme Court has authorized the 50 states to legalize sports betting, which New Jersey has done quickly. to start taking sports betting on July 15.
Allen's Thursday comments echoed those he's made just after the state-wide referendum was beating from about 80% to 20%. But key details about the project have never been explained, including precisely where the casinos would go and the rate at which they would be taxed.
And at least for the moment, there remains little appetite among the state-controlled legislature to try again for another public vote on the expansion of the casino . The constitution of New Jersey limits the casino game in Atlantic City;
New Jersey Senate Speaker, Steve Sweeney, told AP in December that the expansion of casinos was, at best, the order of the day
"I do not see him soon, if ever, "he said at the time. "I see no way to get back to it; it was crushed."
Sweeney said that he can not guarantee a future state that the Senate Speaker will not try to revive a public vote.
"I just do not see it reasonably coming back and making sense,"
Sweeney reiterated this position on Friday.
Hard Rock was one of two closed casinos in Atlantic City that came back to life on Thursday. The former casino of Revel, closed in September 2014, reopened as Ocean Resort Casino.
The Trump Taj Mahal closed its doors in October 2016 and Hard Rock bought it from its former owner Carl Icahn in March 2017. While reiterating The long-term development plan of a casino in Meadowlands, Allen said he's determined to make his Atlantic City property a success.
"If this (Meadowlands casino) seems to happen, we will certainly not forget the half billion dollars we invested in this building," he said.
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Follow Wayne Parry at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This document may not be published, distributed, rewritten or redistributed.
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