New promise and old problems due in 2019 for Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - The new year holds promise and peril for Atlantic City, with new benefits facing off against old problems.

Sports betting is generating new revenue, and development projects including a new university campus, rental housing and the conversion of some former casino hotel rooms into apartments are bringing more people to the city.

MORE: NJ, PA casinos crossing borders into each other's markets | Gov. Murphy signs New Jersey sports betting bill into law | Gambling returns to 2 once-shuttered Atlantic City casinos

But big questions include whether the resort can support nine casinos -- up from the seven it recently had -- and what, if anything, will result from an FBI raid on the mayor's home in December.

The first quarterly profit reports after two casinos reopened last year saw gross operating profits down more than 15 percent in the newly expanded market.