Head of Ocean Casino: We aim to be Atlantic City's No. 1
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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, and he quickly set a daunting challenge for himself and his employees: to become Atlantic City's top casino.
Bill Callahan was promoted to the newly created position of general manager, the top executive spot at the casino, which is the successor to one of Atlantic City's most spectacular failures, the former Revel.
But Ocean, which opened in 2018, is one of only two casinos in the nine-casino Atlantic City market to have increased its in-person gambling revenue since 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
While pleased with that success, Callahan has his sights set higher.
“Our ultimate goal in the next few years is to become the No. 1 casino in the market,” he told The Associated Press on Monday. “This property is still in its infancy; there's so much more that it can grow.”
That would entail leapfrogging competitors including Hard Rock, Tropicana and the perennial market leader, Borgata, where Callahan formerly worked before joining Ocean in July 2020 as senior vice president of hospitality. He 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.”
Revel opened in 2012, and closed after little more than two years of operation, massive losses and two bankruptcy filings.
Even the early days of Ocean were touch-and-go.
“This is a $2.5 billion asset, and it was being run like a $110 million property,” Callahan said. “When we got here, the place was like, ‘How do we not spend money and just get through and not close?’"
But under new ownership, it has turned itself around, seeing its in-person gambling revenue increase from $215 million in 2019 to $306 million last year. Only Hard Rock also increased its in-person revenue over that time frame, from $324 million to $431 million.
Ocean plans to open 463 hotel rooms and suites on upper floors that were never completed, and a redone sportsbook this year to follow up on $15 million worth of recent investments in and around the casino floor.
In terms of overall gambling revenue, Ocean ranks fourth in Atlantic City in terms of overall gambling revenue.
