ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The casino market in the northeastern United States is saturated, yet that's not stopping some states from approving gambling legislation and companies from building new gambling halls.
That's the consensus of participants at a major casino conference in Atlantic City.
Eugene Johnson, of Spectrum Gaming Group, said that by the end of this year, there will be 60 casinos in the Northeast. That figure will grow to 65 by 2018, according to his colleague, Joe Weinert.
"There's not a politician in the land who is going to choose a tax increase when gaming looks so good on paper," said Wendy Hamilton, general manager of Philadelphia's SugarHouse casino. "We have to avoid the siren song. There's not a ZIP code in the region that doesn't have four or five [gambling] options within an hour."
Asked if casino closings outside New Jersey are likely, she said nothing appears imminent, but "of course it's going to happen" if expansion continues at its current pace.
"Pennsylvania doesn't care what happens to New Jersey, and New York doesn't care what happens to Pennsylvania," she said. "It just can't go on forever. There's a finite amount of gaming revenue out there. We are in a very volatile time and we're in a frenzy of gaming expansion. It needs to stop."