Ocean Casino Promotes Bill Callahan, as Atlantic City Resort Begins Next Chapter
Posted on: February 7, 2022, 09:48h.
Last updated on: February 7, 2022, 12:13h.
Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City has a new boss. The Boardwalk property announced today that interim CEO William “Bill” Callahan, effective immediately, is assuming the new role of general manager.
Callahan has been at Ocean for less than two years but brings a wealth of knowledge regarding the Atlantic City gaming market. Prior to arriving at the $2.4 billion integrated resort that opened as Revel in 2012, Callahan spent 17 years at the Borgata.
Following the surprise resignation of Ocean CEO Terry Glebocki last October, Callahan was elevated to interim CEO. He’s now the property’s general manager — the top executive capacity at the casino resort.
OCRM was formed last year after Ilitch Holdings and Luxor Capital announced a 50-50 partnership in the casino resort. Ilitch paid $175 million for the position to Luxor, which acquired Ocean from the previous owner Bruce Deifik in 2019 after he ran into financial difficulties. Deifik died in a car accident that same year.
Ilitch Holdings is the family investment firm of the late billionaire Mike Ilitch, who, with his wife, Marian, founded Little Caesars in 1959. The Ilitch family today owns the MLB Detroit Tigers, NHL Detroit Red Wings, and MotorCity Casino Hotel in downtown Detroit.
Wave of Progress
During his time at Borgata, Bill Callahan established a long Rolodex of VIP high rollers who frequent New Jersey’s casino town.
When he left for Ocean Casino Resort in July of 2020, Borgata operator MGM Resorts filed a lawsuit against its competitor on grounds that the casino was poaching its executive talent and stealing trade secrets. After nearly a year of litigation, MGM and Ocean settled the lawsuit in May of 2021.
Ocean officials say the resort is fresh off its best operating year since its opening in the summer of 2018.
The property’s casino floor won $342.69 million off of gamblers in 2021, a 60 percent surge in 2020. Ocean Casino reported gross gaming revenue (GGR) of $306.8 million on its brick-and-mortar floor. The remaining revenue came from iGaming, which totaled just shy of $16 million, and its William Hill Sportsbook accounting for $19.6 million.
Big Shoes to Fill
Terry Glebocki’s exit from Ocean was a devastating blow to the casino resort. Glebocki was credited with turning around the Boardwalk casino, which struggled financially prior to her arrival in late 2019.
Ocean Casino reported a net operating loss of $2.5 million through three quarters in 2019. Under her leadership, the resort quickly turned profitable. Despite the arrival of the coronavirus and a global pandemic, Ocean managed to post an operating profit of $21.8 million in 2020 — the best of the nine Atlantic City casinos.
Ocean Casino reported an operating profit of $62 million through three quarters of 2021. Data for the fourth quarter has not yet been revealed.
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Last Comment ( 1 )
mr callahan i have to tell you me and a buddy of mine stayed at your hotel for 4 days and 3 nights at the ocean hotel, i must tell you i was never in my life treated with such disrespect in a casino hotel, the room i had i would not let my dog sleep in it at all disgusting it was. in the casino me and my friend billy would take out 2 grand everytime we played craps the pitt bosses were so nasty would not even look at us never said hello nothing we would sometimes have up on any one roll of the dice 500 to 700 dollars at a time. never one time did they offer us anything give us a comp for anything at all we had to beg them to put 100 dollars on our card because we would gamble for 2 hours and i would look at my card and i would have 8.37 cents this is very very sad also one of your pitt bosses at the crap tables was so nasty he stuck his chest out in my face like he wanted a fight. listen the way we gambled at your hotel we should have been comped for everything the whole 4 days there were a nightmare fighting with them they were so disrespectful to me and my buddy . my name is bruce berger # 20752546 and billy dulis his acct # 20764186. i have to tell you if i was in las vegas or anywhere else they would have done the right thing you guys were terrible and you need new management there ive been around alot and the way the treated us was terrible. also your hotel charged us for everything. please respond love to hear your thoughts on this matter thanks bruce berger