Figure 1 Visitors flock here for the casinos but the locals don’t seem to support a sports team
Talk to most people in Ventnor, Margate, or Longport and you will probably be debating the chances of the Eagles winning the Super Bowl or whether the Flyers will ever return to the glory of the 1970s. At a push, you might get a few locals commenting on the Devils or even the Giants and Jets (although what they say may be far from complimentary).
But it is unlikely that a sports conversation would ever get around to a team based in Atlantic City. There are some sports teams in “America’s Playground”, of course. But they tend to be minor league organizations, semi-pro, or ones that just don’t seem to hang around for too long.
Although Atlantic City is regarded as one of the gambling centers of the country, it is very uncommon to find a team from the city in the markets on betting sites like MyBookie. But why is that? And what are the chances of a major league pro sports team eventually calling Atlantic City home?
Sports Teams in Atlantic City
Although Atlantic City is rarely thought of as a home for sports teams, there have been quite a few that have tried over the years. The Arena Football League hoped to feed off the love of football but use smaller, indoor stadiums. But with so many football leagues hoping to cash in on the success of the NFL, the AFL folded after just one season in 2019 – along with the Atlantic City Blackjacks. Plans for a revival in 2024 have already stalled.
The Atlantic City Diablos soccer team only lasted two seasons of play back in the early 2000s, which is one more year than the city’s other go at indoor football. The Cardsharks lasted just one season back in 2004. Longer lasting was the minor league baseball team, the Surf – winning a league championship in the first year and lasting another 10 before disbanding in 2008.
The Boardwalk Bullies hockey team lasted just four years but never really attracted enough of a crowd before it was relocated to California. But it was the Seagulls basketball team that looked like it could keep sports in Atlantic City. Initially disbanding in 2001 after five years, the team was brought back to great fanfare in 2021 with the hope of bringing hoops fans out to watch some live action. They lasted just six games after reforming.
Soccer Lives
The more “traditional” US sports may not have been able to convince Atlantic City over the years but soccer has grown in popularity all across the country and now Atlantic City Football Club, formerly the Aces, is preparing for its seventh season of competitive play.
Playing its home games once again at the Stockton University campus in neighboring Galloway, the team has made it to the Conference semifinal on two occasions and reached the final this year. The organization is only semi-professional and plays in the NPSL, but it does suggest there is an appetite for a local sports team in the area.
Pro Hoops
Bringing pro basketball back to the city is the Atlantic City Gambits. Local owner DeShawn Ward promised some high-profile players to suit up for the team in the TBL, an expanding hoops league that now covers the entire country. The Gambits have made the playoffs in both seasons of existence so far but have been unable to get further than the round of 16. There are now high hopes for 2024.
Vegas Comparisons
Although there has been some success in sports in Atlantic City, it is very obvious that the level is nowhere near the achievements of the nation’s other gambling city, Las Vegas. There was some hope that there might be major league teams coming to the Jersey Shore when sports betting was legalized, just like in Sin City.
But that has not been the case. Vegas has been able to celebrate Stanley Cup triumphs with the Golden Knights, as well as the arrival of the world-famous Raiders to the city. There is now talk of either an NBA or MLB team arriving in the coming years too. That is in stark contrast to the situation in Atlantic City.
Figure 2 Las Vegas can even be considered a hockey town now!
Expansion Teams
Las Vegas has been able to attract expansion teams and relocations, as it was a city that couldn’t be ignored by pro sports after the fall of PASPA in 2018. With few major league teams nearby, Vegas had an ever-growing population crying out for a team of its own. But, unlike Nevada, Atlantic City has a whole host of sports teams operating virtually on its doorstep.
Think of all the teams in New Jersey itself, as well as those representing Philadelphia. The market is saturated already on this stretch of the east coast and although Atlantic City has casinos just like Las Vegas, there is just not the room for major league pro sports teams to thrive here.
Sports on the Jersey Shore
The surge in legal sports betting may have helped Las Vegas attract new franchises and teams but that is unlikely to happen in Atlantic City. Even with tax benefits and the potential for a growing population, there is little chance that any of the big leagues would think of moving a team to the city, even if we still lived in an era of expansion – which seems to have quietened down in the last few years anyway.
For now, Atlantic City will have to make do with minor league teams, or those operating on a semi-professional basis. There might be a chance for a minor league baseball team to do well if it is planned properly. But sports fans in the city already have their allegiances to New Jersey and Philadelphia teams; so don’t expect anything to change in the near future.
