Gambling and casinos have been a staple in America since the Great Depression. Patrons would come to a casino, find their “lucky” machine and pull on the one armed bandit all day. If slots weren’t your thing, there was always the more traditional Blackjack and Poker tables, along with some other classic favorites. Unfortunately, the traditional casino is beginning to show its age and millennials are not buying in, especially with slot machines.
The new generation of potential gamblers have gambling at their fingertips. Long gone are the days where you were required to be in a casino to satisfy the rush of chance. Smartphones are everywhere and mobile gambling is growing into a juggernaught. Add in the boom and popularity of social media and you can start to see why casinos are struggling to connect. Millennials come to the casino and spend more on food and entertainment than gambling; and when they do gamble its with more social games like Blackjack and poker. While its good they are in the casino gambling, Blackjack doesn’t contribute to revenue as much as slots do.
You can’t stop time; and the time of the old way is already gone. That’s why the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is paving the way for a new “way”. With only 8 casinos left in Atlantic City, the Borgata is at the top of the heap. For the past two years, Atlantic City has seen a consistent decline in the gambling industry and the Borgata has been looking into solutions to slow that decline and reinvent the casino experience. One of those solutions is a hefty $14 million investment into a new 18,000 square foot facility that would house a premier nightclub. It’s slated to be open to the public spring of 2016.
This night club will give the younger generation exactly what they are looking for, while potentially grooming them into more traditional gamblers. The Borgata isn’t just making some by the numbers night club either, they’ve enlisted Josh Held of Josh Held Design to design the club. His worldwide experience makes him the perfect fit for this venture. The premier nightclub will have a modern ambience, deejay booth, staged and tiered booths. It gets even better, the main floor will have 2 x 35 foot long bars, a staircase that takes you up to a mezzanine area equipped with a unique disco ball and chandelier made of programmable light. This is not your grandfather’s casino, or your father’s for that matter.
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is at the top of the pack for a reason. They’re willingness to embrace change has kept them relevant to newer generations. Major investments like this are nothing uncommon for the Borgata. Over the past two years they’ve invested over $20 million in various non-gaming facilities. The future is looking very bright.
