Callahan is general manager of Atlantic City's Ocean Casino
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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The owners of Atlantic City's Ocean Casino Resort appointed its interim CEO on Monday as its permanent leader.
Bill Callahan was promoted to the newly created position of general manager, the top executive spot at the casino.
He joined Ocean in July 2020 as senior vice president of hospitality and was promoted to executive vice president of hospitality and gaming in July 2021.
In November 2021 he was named interim CEO after New Jersey regulators approved a deal to sell half of the Ocean casino to the Ilitch family, which owns professional sports teams, a nationwide pizza chain and a casino in Detroit.
The casino is co-owned by New York hedge fund Luxor Capital Group.
“Bill is a 25-year veteran of the gaming industry who has done a great job since joining the team at Ocean,” said Bruce Dall, president of OCRM, LLC, the new entity encompassing Ocean's ownership. “He has been an integral part of enhancing the guest experience across the property, while helping to build the best hospitality team in the market. We are confident in Bill’s ability to lead Ocean forward as we become the premier gaming destination in Atlantic City.”
Ocean opened in 2012 as the former Revel casino, which closed after little more than two years of operation, massive losses and two bankruptcy filings.
But under new ownership, it has turned itself around and is one of only two of Atlantic City's nine casinos to see its in-person casino revenue increase since 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit. It went from $215 million in 2019 to $306 million last year.
In terms of overall gambling revenue, Ocean ranks fourth in Atlantic City in terms of overall gambling revenue.
