A July gaming report revealed the Trump Taj Mahal suffered financially while the revenues across Atlantic City’s casino industry went up for the month.
Likely a symptom of the hundreds of striking workers demonstrating outside of the Carl Icahn-owned casino all month, the Taj Mahal brought in $17.5 million last month, down more than 8 percent from the $19.1 million in revenue reported in July 2015, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
The poor July comes on top of an already slow year for the Taj, whose revenue is down nearly 5 percent in the first seven months of 2016 compared to the same year-ago period, the Division of Gaming Enforcement’s report, released Friday, shows.
Revenue from January to July of 2016 was nearly $103 million for the casino, which is set to close in October. In 2015, the Taj’s revenue was almost $108 million for the same period.
Icahn, who wrote a scathing letter to the casino’s unionized workers days after the closure announcement came, has stated several times that tons of money has been spent on the Taj with no sign of profitability in sight.
“Icahn Enterprises is a business with shareholders and legal duties to those shareholders. It is one thing to fund losses when a path to profitability exists; but, to burn tens of millions of dollars when there is no hope is just foolish,” he wrote.
UNITE HERE Local 54, the union that represents roughly 1,000 Taj Mahal workers and hundreds of others at several other Atlantic City casinos, has a different perspective on the floundering casino.
The Taj has been impacted financially because Mr. Icahn won’t invest in what they’ve always told us was their number one asset – us,” said Valerie McMorris, a cocktail server at Trump Taj Mahal for 26 years, in a statement.
She acknowledged the nearly two years-long labor dispute has impacted the casino, but put the burden on Icahn saying: “This property is going the wrong way in an industry that’s doing better.”