I got around the Press of Atlantic City's paywall for you all:
ATLANTIC CITY — The 2024 Atlantic City Airshow will happen after all, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday.
“The Atlantic City Airshow brings thousands of spectators to the beaches of Atlantic City every year and is essential to the success of the city’s economy," Murphy said in a statement. "We’re thrilled to announce a partnership with the South Jersey Transportation Authority and Atlantic City International Airport to ensure this fantastic event takes place this summer.”
As part of the agreement, the SJTA will be providing $300,000 in funding for the event and be a presenting sponsor, officials said.
The airshow is run by the Greater Atlantic City Chamber.
The future of the airshow was called into question Monday after Mayor Marty Small Sr. said Monday on WOND Radio’s “The Don Williams Show” that there have been discussions with the state about possible funding needed for the show to continue.
On Sunday night, WOND reported on its Facebook page that the airshow had been postponed for the next two years because of funding issues. The post has since been deleted.
jpujol wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 8:13 pm
Why can't the Casinos put up the $300K?
They have plenty of money and the show is good for their business.
A lot of this is going to be off-topic but everyone here will appreciate it.
As someone who regularly visits Atlantic City and has had extended family working for one of the casinos, it's not that easy. If you ever looked back in time the casinos were listed as host hotels on the airshow website: I've stayed at Borgata many times during airshow week only to realize Borgata was the host hotel for the airshow up until recently. The casinos themselves have always been saying "we're in a cash crunch". It's good for their business of packing their parking garages at a premium but for a family event I would venture a guess and say they don't like it when there's all these under-21 people in town that cannot legally pull a handle on a one-armed bandit, spin a roulette wheel, or double down or split a pair of 10s in blackjack.
I do agree the casinos - at least the ones along the Boardwalk - could send some dollars towards the airshow in exchange for a larger part of the airshow sponsorship, but you'd also be hedging that a good number of spectators are actually going to stay overnight and not do day trips; most of our non-airshow related AC trips are overnight.
ALSO... and this is huge... both my wife and I typically get stuff in the mail from several of the AC casinos on a somewhat regular basis. We're talking about promotional stuff. Borgata sent my wife (but not me) something entailing visiting in April to pick up free gardening-related stuff. Some of this stuff is actually high quality stuff, not what you'd find in Dollar Tree or similar stores. We also have been there enough to get comped rooms and meals; we haven't gotten any room offers from anywhere in almost a year.
Now the argument begins... where to book and when in August.
