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While Ocean Resort revels in its sportsbook, the Hard Rock is silent

Doesn't look like Atlantic City's Hard Rock is jumping into the sportsbook pool.

File photo: The sportsbook at the South Point hotel and casino in Las Vegas. When the Ocean Resort and Hard Rock casinos open on June 28, it appears one will have a sports book and the other will not.
File photo: The sportsbook at the South Point hotel and casino in Las Vegas. When the Ocean Resort and Hard Rock casinos open on June 28, it appears one will have a sports book and the other will not.Read moreJohn Locher / AP
    by Ed Barkowitz | Columnist
    Published 

Two new casinos are opening up in Atlantic City next week.

At the Ocean Resort, where the Revel used to be, they are crowing about their sportsbook. It's going to be in the middle of the casino floor. TVs, private rooms, bar smack in the middle. Sounds like it will be the top spot in Atlantic City for sports bettors.

At the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, where the Trump Taj Mahal used to be, the only sound emanating about its sportsbook is similar to chirping crickets. Sshhhh.

"Unfortunately," Hard Rock spokesman Tim Louie said in an email, "we have no comments on sports betting at the moment."

That sounds ominous.

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It's worth noting the Miami Dolphins' field, which has undergone numerous name changes since opening in 1987, has been called Hard Rock Stadium since 2016. The relationship with the NFL could be clouding things up. An operator at the hotel's main number said they would not have sports betting when business opens on Thursday, June 28, but hoped to have it in the future.

The Hard Rock declined to make an executive available for clarification, but it's not a total loss for bettors. The Ocean Resort is a short walk up the boardwalk from the Hard Rock. There are six day baseball games on June 28 and England has a 2 p.m. World Cup match against Belgium.

When the PR guy was asked if a sportsbook would be open on the 28th, Louie responded, "I really can't comment."