North NJ’s gain, Atlantic City’s loss – says Fitch

Making news this month: Fitch Ratings says expansion in New Jersey would inevitably hurt Atlantic City, casino shuttle services have been combined in Macau and journalists at the Las Vegas Review Journal have been honoured for their work in uncovering the details of the paper’s sale last year.

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s reported by Reuters, Fitch Ratings has issued a statement warning that proposals to permit two new casino licences in northern New Jersey could have dire ramifications for the industry in Atlantic City. Fitch claims that, due to the closer proximity to New York City, any prospective new properties in northern New Jersey would see major cannibalisation of player traffic to Atlantic City – which is currently the only place where casinos are regulated. The state’s legislators will vote on the issue in November.

Meanwhile, as featured in the Macau Daily Times, three of Macau’s major casino operators – Galaxy Entertainment Group, Melco Crown Entertainment and Sands China – have announced that they will pool resources through the introduction of an integrated shuttle bus service. Dubbed the “Cotai Connection,” the new service replaces independent shuttle services with one, unified route serving the Galaxy Macau, Broadway Macau, Studio City, City of Dreams, Venetian Macao and Sands Cotai Central resorts.

Finally, in Las Vegas, selected staff at the Las Vegas Review Journal have been awarded Medill School of Journalism’s James Foley Medal for Courage in recognition of their work uncovering the paper’s purchase last year by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. “The staff of this newspaper displayed great courage in its coverage of a dramatic change in management in order to keep the public informed of news critical to their community,” remarked Dick Stolley, one of the judges of the competition. “They risked their livelihood, careers and reputations in insisting on the kind of courageous journalism our medal was invented to celebrate.”