Deutsche Bank predicts nearly half of Atlantic City casinos will close by 2017

Resorts and Trump Taj Mahal will “join the list of shuttered properties” in coming years, the bank predicted.“By 2017, we foresee Atlantic City to have two center boardwalk casinos (Caesars and Bally’s), the Tropicana, and three casino hotels located in the Marina district (Borgata, Harrah’s, and Golden Nugget),” the report said.

The property housing Revel Casino Hotel, which said Tuesday it plans to close by Sept. 10, “is likely to be sold post its closure” but “it is unlikely that the casino operations at the property will be revived post its sale,” the bank said.“Our revenue expectation for AC in 2017 is US$1.8 billion”— a roughly 36.5% decline from year-end 2013, it said.

The Atlantic City gambling market has nearly halved since peaking at US$5.2 billion in 2006.

Plummeting revenues are a symptom of increasing regional competition, as states such as Maryland and Pennsylvania, which historically were feeder markets for Atlantic City, now have casinos of their own.“We turned bearish on Atlantic City in 2006 (and continue to be bearish to this day) as we believed increased regional competition would take its toll on Atlantic City. It has and it will continue to do so,” Deutsche said.