Comparative analysis of casino operations on the Las Vegas Strip and in Atlantic City

The main purpose of this study is to assess the state of the casino industry within the respective markets of Atlantic City and the Las Vegas Strip, based on recent changes in their financial performances. It attempts to identify trends in revenue, cost, and profit margin of the Las Vegas Strip and Atlantic City casinos since 1995, when the gaming market saturation was not a problem. Casino performances within these two markets are compared. To achieve this objective, aggregate data of 37 casinos on the Las Vegas Strip and 12 casinos in Atlantic City are used; Despite fast rising revenues on the Las Vegas Strip, total operating costs and expenses have increased more quickly than has total revenue. This has caused a decline in net income before income taxes and extraordinary items since 1996 (Nevada Gaming Abstract, 1995--2000). In Atlantic City, a fierce marketing war took place consisting of bus and coin giveaway packages in 1996 (Rutherford, 1999), which significantly affected the increase of total operating costs and expenses, as well as a decline in the bottom-line profit margin for the year. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)