Online Casinos News - Onlinecasino News

April 7, 2009 – Ontario, Canada

Can online gambling sites weather the recession even though their land based casino counterparts are hurting.

It was once thought that the most recession proof business in the world was gambling. Much like general entertainment (movies, live performances, ect…) in the past these have proven not to decline with wide spread financial crisis. The idea behind it was that in tough times folks needed to be cheered up, so they always found the money to have fun.

It is obvious by the gambling reports from the Atlantic City casinos that this is no longer the case. February numbers pointed to a missive 19.2% decline in revenue compared to the same time in 2008, aggregated from the 11 casinos operating in the city, something the New Jersey Casino Control Commission calls the worst monthly decline in the 30+ years gambling has been legal in New Jersey. And the future of casino gambling in Atlantic City is far from brighter, after the massive gambling revenue decline was paired with the constant stream of bad news coming out of the local casinos.

For starter, three of the AC casinos, those operated by Trump Entertainment, have already filed for bankruptcy protection in February after failing to meet obligations thanks to the deteriorating gambling traffic to the city, following one of the deepest recession ever to hit the United States. Everyone knows that things are bad, but when the casinos start finding themselves bankrupt, the situation is obviously dire.

In addition to the three casinos filing for bankruptcy, other gambling companies are scraping further casino development in Atlantic City. Pinnacle Entertainment has postponed a casino beach front resort with price tag of $1.5 billion indefinitely, while MGM Mirage, which is seriously struggling in Las Vegas, as well, is also cancelling all further developing and expansions.

Last quarter of 2008 was good for many online casino operators and other online casino peripheral companies but it will be interesting to see if they weather the storm and come out unscathed in the first quarter of 2009 which has just been completed. My guess is that the strongest and best run will likely at least hold their own for most of this year and we might even see a spike in the fourth quarter. I don’t believe that any group of online casinos is exempt from the pain of the financial crisis but I think some will rise to the occasion and do well.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) has recently announced a new set of safety measures aimed at increasing the safety of horses in the US and ensuring that the industry is not dragged through the mud as it was when Eight Belles was ‘put to sleep’ after a terrible racing accident. While not a federal body the NTRA has massive influence in the sport and will be using this to ensure the new procedures are introduced across the whole of the US.

The new safety measures will see the strict certification of racing tracks and those not accredited, i.e. up to the standards demanded by the NTRA, will not receive an accreditation certificate. It is hoped that in time the accreditation system will see the general standards of safety at all tracks move out of the dark ages.

Many in the horse racing world will be relieved that the NTRA is taking such a proactive stance on the issue of safety because there were suggestions that the US government would get directly involved if no changes were made. When you consider the size of the US horse racing market it was always inevitable that changes would need to happen to recapture the trust of the public.  This is a great move at a time when safety has been quite lax.  When betting online horse racing make sure to know all about injured jockeys after all this ain’t bingo.