Nearly half of Atlantic City’s gaming revenue comes from internet gambling and sports betting.
For example, in the month of February, 2023, the win for New Jersey’s nine casino hotel properties – slot machines plus table games – was $215 million, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
They also took in $142.6 million from internet gaming and $54.6 million from sports wagering for a total of $412.2 million.
When it comes to secure and reliable data processing, the stakes are high in Atlantic City, and key to the gaming resort’s ongoing success.
That’s why it was a cause for celebration when the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce, the Casino Reinvestment and Development Authority and the data management company Continent 8 cut the ribbon on a $5 million Phase 2 expansion of its data center at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small got right to the point at the Tuesday, April 18 ceremony.
“Internet gaming is keeping the great city of Atlantic City afloat,” Small said. “We’re still struggling to get to our pre-pandemic numbers for brick and mortar, but this is keeping us alive.”
Michael Tobin, CEO and founder of Continent 8, indicated that there will be more expansions and ribbon cuttings to come.
“We see this as the seed for job creation beyond just the staff that we need to run a data center,” Tobin said.
That number grew from eight to 45 with the expansion.
Tobin explained that Atlantic City is part of the network with 95 locations around the world in competition with major data companies such as Amazon Web Services.
“Atlantic City has a special brand, well beyond gaming. And what we’ve created here, people don’t understand how high-tech this is. We compete with the big players.”
He said Continent 8 has even bigger plans ahead for creating cyber security jobs in Atlantic City.
“This is only the beginning,” he said, explaining that he would like to return to his roots in economic development. “I hope we become a more important part of the community beyond just having built the plumbing for the internet.”
Sen. Vince Polistina congratulated Tobin on what his company has achieved.
“It hopefully provides the blueprint as we move forward with the city of Atlantic City to get reinvestment and redevelopment,” Polistina said.
CRDA has been involved from the beginning of the private public partnership.
“One of the things that you note here is people often talk about what Atlantic City used to be,” said Sean Pattwell, CRDA director. “And I think that what you all bring to the table is what Atlantic City can be,” Pattwell said, stressing the potential for economic development and workforce development.
James T. Plousis, Casino Control Commission chairman, said Continent 8 was key to the city’s survival during Covid.
“Who would have dreamed that five years ago what you did here would literally be the lifeline to keep the casinos going during the pandemic,” Plousis said. “Truly this was the lifeline that kept the casinos rolling during the pandemic and the 105 days that we were closed.”
Assemblyman and former Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian echoed something that Mayor Small said earlier, that the company and the project represent future jobs for Atlantic City residents.
Guardian also thanked the company for partnering with Atlantic Cape Community College and Stockton University on internships, which one day might turn into jobs.
After the ceremony Shore Local News caught up with Continent 8 spokeswoman Barbara DeMarco by email who shared some details.
In addition to the 45 jobs, the number of indirect jobs being generated by the project is 150 as the new addition allows for a “live dealer studio” run by the Playtech Corporation adjacent to the data center.
No public dollars were used for Phase 1, the initial project, or Phase 2, DeMarco said.
The data center was built in “unused space” deep inside of the convention center that the public does not have access to. It is highly secure with 24-hour monitoring and security.
She also had insight into the location choice.
“The convention center location was chosen because of two key factors, firstly the CRDA was an excellent partner for this project and secondly, the electrical grid connection of the convention center, with connection to two substations, was ideal for a data center.”
