Apparently it’s easier to change your name than your luck.
Just ask the folks down at Harrah’s. Make that Harrah’s Philadelphia. You know, the gambling mecca that is located in Chester.
The folks at Harrah’s decided they needed to widen their scope, change their brand to better identify with the region in an attempt to lure gamblers in the extremely competitive gambling biz.
So they changed their name. And in the process dropped Chester.
They had always been known as Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack.
Not anymore.
Now they’re going by Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Only they haven’t moved to Philly. They’re still located on Route 291 in Chester. Yes, right next to the prison.
The name change rubbed a lot of people the wrong way in Chester.
For the last couple of years, Harrah’s has been battling declining revenue from slots. Oh, they’re not exactly going begging, in May they took in more than $22 million from their slots operations. But that was down 1.2 percent from May 2011, a trend that has been pretty constant for more than a year.
One thought was that more people were trying their luck at table games. And Harrah’s table games had been going great guns.
Until May.
New numbers released by the state Gaming Control Board indicate that while table games revenue was up across the state, in part because of the addition of another casino in Valley Forge and more tables in play, revenue was off at Harrah’s. That was one of the first times table games revenue has dipped at the Chester casino.
Harrah’s took in $6.1 million in May, as opposed to $6.9 million in May 2011. That’s a decline of 12 percent.
Clearly one of the things at play here is the increased competition for gambling bucks in the region. Harrah’s now faces competition every direction it looks, with Sugar House in Philly, the Sands in Bethlehem, a new facility in Valley Forge, Parx in Bucks County, and of course Delaware Park just over the border to the south.
But are there other factors in play?
Why do you think the numbers are down at Harrah’s? Is it bad karma for the name change? Or are the declining numbers part of the reason for the name change in the first place.
Post a comment and let me know what you think.
Just ask the folks down at Harrah’s. Make that Harrah’s Philadelphia. You know, the gambling mecca that is located in Chester.
The folks at Harrah’s decided they needed to widen their scope, change their brand to better identify with the region in an attempt to lure gamblers in the extremely competitive gambling biz.
So they changed their name. And in the process dropped Chester.
They had always been known as Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack.
Not anymore.
Now they’re going by Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Only they haven’t moved to Philly. They’re still located on Route 291 in Chester. Yes, right next to the prison.
The name change rubbed a lot of people the wrong way in Chester.
For the last couple of years, Harrah’s has been battling declining revenue from slots. Oh, they’re not exactly going begging, in May they took in more than $22 million from their slots operations. But that was down 1.2 percent from May 2011, a trend that has been pretty constant for more than a year.
One thought was that more people were trying their luck at table games. And Harrah’s table games had been going great guns.
Until May.
New numbers released by the state Gaming Control Board indicate that while table games revenue was up across the state, in part because of the addition of another casino in Valley Forge and more tables in play, revenue was off at Harrah’s. That was one of the first times table games revenue has dipped at the Chester casino.
Harrah’s took in $6.1 million in May, as opposed to $6.9 million in May 2011. That’s a decline of 12 percent.
Clearly one of the things at play here is the increased competition for gambling bucks in the region. Harrah’s now faces competition every direction it looks, with Sugar House in Philly, the Sands in Bethlehem, a new facility in Valley Forge, Parx in Bucks County, and of course Delaware Park just over the border to the south.
But are there other factors in play?
Why do you think the numbers are down at Harrah’s? Is it bad karma for the name change? Or are the declining numbers part of the reason for the name change in the first place.
Post a comment and let me know what you think.
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