Esports will become a greater part of the casino experience in the future as operators seek to lure younger generations to their properties, according panelists involved with the industry.
A panel discussion on the “New Face of Gaming: iGaming, Skilled-Based Slots and eSports,” kicked off the second annual Casino eSports Conference Wednesday at Luxor Las Vegas, where its Esports Arena opened earlier this year.
Alex Ingelman, executive chairman with Millennial Esports, which built an esports facility in downtown Las Vegas in 2015, said the trend shows no signs of abating.
Alex Ingelman of Millennial Esports (left) and Jason Selby of bSpot (right) listen as Blaine Graboyes of GameCo makes a point
“If you look at what has been going on in the last year, we have seen quite a bit more of activations and events taking place in casinos both domestically in North America and overseas in Asia,” Ingelman said. “I think there is interest now in building permanent facilities like the Esports Arena here at the Luxor or ours downtown. The casino industry has embraced it more on the event side. It’s on the event side that it’s taking off.”
Blaine Graboyes, CEO of GameCo., a skilled-based game manufacturer, said casinos are experts in three areas – hotel rooms, the gaming floor and acting as a landlord. Most of the work in esports so far is in that third area. But, what’s coming is a wave of products from GameCo and other companies that will bring esports to the casino floor.
“I would think in the next year we will see a normalization of esports as part of the product line that we see at casinos in North America and worldwide,” Graboyes said. “It will be a very exciting convergence of the two spaces with esports and casinos.”
For skilled based games, the clear majority don’t have a strong crossover with esports currently. GameCo is working toward a change since it only offers single-player house-backed games in which the person plays video games against the machine.
“That is not esports,” Graboyes said. “Esports is competitive gaming with multiple players. In a month at G2E we will show our multi-player mode, and it adds multi-player competition. That brings esports directly onto the casino floor. We will have brackets for 8, 32 and 64 players playing for cash.”
Robert Rippee, head of the esports division at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, said the common thread he’s learned from students is the younger generation likes to take their entertainment “in large massive doses chaotically mixed together.” They make sense out of it, he added.
Rippee said converging night clubs, esports, restaurants and retail on the casino floor is a business model he’s seen pitched by his students.
“They seem to gravitate to a diverse array of experiences they can have fun because it’s all built around this idea of socializing,” Rippee said. They want to do things together. If you build this having fun you have probably found the secret formula.”
Rippee dismissed suggestions that younger generations don’t like to gamble even though many of his students said they don’t. For example, he said the students don’t want to sit and play craps because they’re intimidated by the game and don’t want to sit with people they don’t know.
“When we get past that and start looking at the simplicity and enjoyment of the game and sociability of the game of how this looks like fun and something I would do, you solve those problems,” Rippee said. “I think that traditional casino games could play a role if you could get past the factors of wanting to enjoy them now. Blaine’s devices are great steps in bringing those players and giving them in an environment they want to play.”
Rippee added that younger generations are risk takers by nature, and a group that loves to play games. The definition of gambling, however, is illusive to them, he said. Someone may not gamble on existing games in casinos, but they bet friends when playing video games.
Graboyes said in Atlantic City – where GameCo launched a new game – 30 percent to 40 percent of the players were millennials, which shows they are gambling. He said one of the problems in luring people to casinos is how the games are situated.
“To put a couple of games in a sea of slot machines populated by an older audience is not the answer,” Graboyes said. “Like wants to associate with like. Young people walk through and feel that it isn’t for them.”
That’s a wasted opportunity because casinos are amazing properties that are cool and have a level of amenities and hospitality that makes people feel like a VIP. He added casinos have something to offer to younger customers.
“We can help them understand the offerings and experiences that it’s not their parents or grandparents and experiences,” Graboyes said.
Jamison Selby, senior vice president of games and marketing for b-spot, a Los Angeles-based iGaming operator, said games being developed by GameCo and others can help lure younger people to casinos, but older groups will play as well. He said he grew up gambling for quarters playing Space Invaders and even those 50 to 60 are familiar with video games.
“The idea that no one over the age of 30 will play these games is wildly false,” Selby said.
When it comes to combining major esports competitions with sports betting, however, Selby said that will happen across the country but will take time.
There will be regulatory challenges setting that up in a sport with players who are underage and a big fan base that’s underage as well, Selby said.
“I think it will be done, but I don’t think it will be fast and easy,” Selby said. “I think down the line you will see a horse racing pair-mutual model for regulated esports betting.”
Ingelman said wagering is taking place on competitive esports overseas and online. He expects where it will soon be normal to place a wager on the activity in a U.S. sports book.
When it comes to esports, Selby said casinos that move in that direction set themselves up in the future to be successful.
Rippee said esports as entertainment is already happening and being viewed through television shows and movies. The industry also attracts celebrities and sponsors.
Graboyes was surprised casinos don’t have a professional resident gamer streaming daily. It’s a marketing tool that casinos should be using, he said.
Some casinos may be reluctant to get more involved with esports because it’s “hard to argue with a successful business,” they have now, Rippee said.
However, companies that take a long-term view will create steps to engage a younger audience with esports.
“I think it’s going to emerge and emerge quickly like we’re seeing here,” Rippee said. “Even though it’s the vendor and landlord type of thing, casinos are beginning to say, ‘wait a minute, these are young people now coming into our building. This is great. Let’s just keep building on this and evolve it.’”
