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Hard Rock International has sold its 50% stake in a proposed casino at the Meadowlands Racetrack to partner Jeff Gural, ending a long-running partnership as debate over expanding gambling beyond Atlantic City resurfaces.
Gural’s firm, New Meadowlands Racing, acquired the stake for an undisclosed sum, taking full control of a project initially proposed in 2015.
Efforts to build casinos outside Atlantic City were rejected by voters in 2016, but lawmakers from Bergen and Monmouth counties are now pushing for a new referendum that would allow casinos at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park.
Gural said winning public support would depend on demonstrating benefits for Atlantic City, including potentially sharing revenue from a Meadowlands casino.
“I’ve got to figure out a way to help Atlantic City,” Gural said. “That’s the key to getting this referendum. We need to show that it would be beneficial to Atlantic City to have a casino in the Meadowlands, and that’s what I’m going to work on.”
He downplayed the competitive threat to the seaside resort, adding: “Atlantic City is a destination resort,” and “The Meadowlands won’t be a destination resort; we may not even put a hotel there.”
Gural also pointed to broader economic challenges in Atlantic City. “The city itself is pretty run-down,” he said. “If you drive through Atlantic City and you go to one of the Boardwalk casinos, you have to drive through depressed areas.”
Hard Rock’s exit comes amid concerns about operating multiple casinos in close proximity, as the company already runs Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City and has secured approval for a major new development in New York.
The company is developing the $8 billion Metropolitan Park casino project in Queens with Mets owner Steve Cohen, adding to the competition for gamblers in the region.
“We have looked into the different options,” said Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International. “We all know partnerships; if there are too many partners in a deal, it can be hard to navigate.”
When asked if a new New York property would cannibalize his existing business, Allen suggested that the two could actually work in tandem, with the New York location potentially funneling gambling traffic toward Atlantic City.
He emphasized that the resort’s survival against upcoming competition depends on the coordinated revitalization effort recently called for by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, involving a unified strategy between the city, the state, and the casino industry.
“I am optimistic the governor will be serious about realizing that we can no longer kick the can down the road. If that occurs, we’d love to continue to be here in Atlantic City. But there’s a lot of ‘ifs’ there,” he said, adding: “Certainly right now our commitment is to stay.”
Industry executives have cautioned that expanded gambling in the region could have a significant impact on Atlantic City’s revenues.
George Goldhoff, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, predicted that additional North Jersey casinos alongside new New York developments could force up to six of Atlantic City’s nine casinos to close, wiping out between $600 million and $700 million in revenue.
He described the potential impact as “a tsunami on top of an earthquake.” But Gural argued that a Meadowlands casino could help retain gamblers in northern New Jersey and compete with projects planned in New York.
“New Jersey can allow us to build a casino at the Meadowlands and keep all the people in North Jersey gambling in North Jersey, and allow the people in Manhattan and Chinatown to come to New Jersey,” he said. “They’re not going to go to Queens or the Bronx.”