Atlantic City's Hard Rock, Ocean Resort celebrate their fifth anniversaries as two of NJ's top casinos

It has been five years since the opening of the second and third highest-ranking casinos in Atlantic City. These are the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and Ocean Casino Resort, respectively, which were inaugurated on June 27 in 2018. 

Francesco Fata, who currently works as the director of hotel operations at the Ocean Casino Resort, left his job of eight years as the front office manager at Tropicana Atlantic City to join the Ocean Casino Resort in 2018.

In conversation with the Press of Atlantic City, Fata said: “The experience of opening a casino hotel, I was never a part of that experience before. A contact (from Ocean) reached out to me for a front office manager position. I was hired in March 2018, before the building opened. I was the 161st employee of Ocean.”

Fata was promoted to his current position as director of hotel operations after four years at Ocean. Speaking to the publication, he said: “We were at the bottom of the market when we opened. Now, we are at the top of the market. I have seen the property become successful and become a leader in the market.”

Another now-successful casino to open in Atlantic City at the same time in 2018 was the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Before its opening, Hard Rock’s executives noted that they wanted to be more than just another resort destination in the city and that they wanted to foster a long-term relationship with residents and businesses. 

Lee Johnson, who is currently a Hard Rock table games manager, also joined the establishment from day one. Before joining Hard Rock, Johnson had already spent nearly three decades working in the resorts sector. She started in 1995 at Resorts Casino Hotel, after which she worked for almost 20 years at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City. 

Johnson has immersed herself in the various activities that Hard Rock has to offer including Women in Leadership at Hard Rock and has participated in beach cleanups, the Pinktober campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Heart of Surfing for families with autism. Speaking to the cited source, Johnson said: “The Hard Rock is very good to its employees. I love the culture. I’m excited about the brand.”

Ocean and Hard Rock five years later

As per the newspaper, in 2014, the unemployment rate in Atlantic County was over 11% as a result of four casinos closing down. After the opening of Hard Rock and Ocean in 2018, the county’s and the city’s unemployment rates gradually reduced. 

In April, the county and the city unemployment rates were 4.1% and 5.7%, respectively, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Ahead of its opening, Hard Rock purchased and renovated the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, which closed in 2016 amid a worker union strike that lasted for 102 days. Bob McDevitt, who was at the forefront of the strike and is the former president of the casino-worker union Unite Here Local 54, told the publication that over 500 Taj union members were employed by the new casino. He said: “Hard Rock did the community a service. A huge amount of people went back to work.”

Bob McDevitt

Mike Sampson, general manager of Hard Rock, noted that the casino was on a quick construction timeline as Hard Rock International announced its purchase of the Taj on March 1, 2017. It officially reopened on June 27, 2018. The casino was strengthening its foundation by the second half of 2019, shortly after which the pandemic hit and Atlantic City’s casinos were required to close for over three months in 2020 under state restrictions that limited social gatherings. 

While many of the city’s casinos are still struggling to return to pre-pandemic levels of profitability, Hard Rock is among the most successful of the group. In terms of money won from in-person gamblers, Hard Rock ranks second after Borgata with $38.7 million in May.

“We are at where we want to be. There was pent-up demand after the pandemic. We elevated our business after the restrictions were lifted,” Sampson said. As per the publication, Hard Rock currently has slightly over 3,600 employees, out of which 23% are Atlantic City residents, and 89% live in Atlantic County.

For its part, the Ocean replaced The Revel Casino Hotel in 2014, which closed after being open a little more than two years. After the pandemic, the Ocean was re-launched with operations being overseen by Bill Callahan, the general manager, and Kelly Burke, the senior vice president and chief marketing officer.

Callahan and Burke, who previously worked at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, noted that they were interested in working at a casino with a single owner with a single focus on making the property successful. Callahan said: “This building was an underdog.”

It's our 5th Birthday this summer, and we can't wait to celebrate with YOU! 🎉

Find everything we're doing to celebrate here: https://t.co/LaNJxBTRlp. pic.twitter.com/HPDOFEvtz0

— Ocean Casino Resort (@TheOceanAC) May 23, 2023

As per the report, Ocean dedicated over $100 million in new property development last year, and continues to invest, committing over $15 million to refresh over 300 rooms, including two state-of-the-art, multi-floor residences along with a helipad to service high rollers.

Ocean is the third-highest-ranking casino with $29.7 million in terms of money won from in-person gamblers in May. As per Callahan, the casino will continue to see reinvestment and wants to be a contender for No. 1 or No. 2 in the market. He said: “Nobody knew what Ocean was. A terrific job has been done of rebranding the property and getting people to visit.”