A session this morning at ICE London, part of the conference’s Boardroom presentations on “what’s going on in the outside world” per the promotional literature, dealt with the important of non-gaming entertainment for the future of the land-based gambling industry.
Moderated by Michael Pollock, Managing Director of the Spectrum Gaming Group, the panel offered a real range of geographic and philosophic perspectives. Agua Caliente Resort COO Saviero R. Scheri III, for instance, took the mic to talk over the importance of developing non-gaming resources in their several California casinos. He emphasized the need to diversify by, as Caliente has done, offering resources such as a spa featuring special tribal waters, a cultural museum and event-hosting space, an arena, and a sports bar – Scheri made the oblique point that the resort “cannot yet” call it a sportsbook.
People were offering $1,000 for a table to view the Super Bowl in this huge sports bar filled with HD screens, Scheri said.
The aim, Pollock said, was to bring the Vegas experience to California. The tribal gaming market in California is huge, with over $7 billion in annual revenue. Scheri indicated also that nobody yet knows which way millennials will jump in the future, towards traditional gaming or away from it.
As a result, he said, much of the industry is “hedging” for now.
Simon Thomas, CEO of London’s Hippodrome, spoke eloquently about his view that it is a mistake to divide development into gaming and non-gaming, saying instead that the focus should be on integrating the two into a whole entertainment experience.
Thomas spoke of providing an experience which the player cannot get online, and in doing so developing sustainable revenue. This approach, he argued, also provides some degree of protection against political risk, as well as providing a consistent experience which makes sense to consumers. Thomas noted the failure of Las Vegas’ attempt in the 1990s to sell itself as a family-friendly environment and said that the city’s return to prosperity came when it refocused on the “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” sales pitch.
“Casinos are not churches,” he said, emphasising that land-based casinos should be about selling excitement, sexiness and entertainment within a safe and protected environment.
Thomas also referenced research by Peter Collins into a cost / benefit analysis of destination casinos – which were found to provide a number of advantages and forms of support for communities as well as customers – in contrast with a similar analysis into online gaming and betting shops, which the research found to be relatively destructive, risky and carrying greater consumer costs.
Ultimately, Thomas said, these lead to a kind of consumer toxicity. He also cited similar concerns about government green papers, saying that there needs to be greater protections for online gambling where the consumer may, for example, be drunk and making bad decisions without any systemic oversight.
Ayako Nakayama, Representative Director of the Japan IR Association, also spoke about the number of hurdles and resources required in the tendering process in Japan, particularly emphasising the culturally unique nature of Japan and the government’s desire to focus on bringing tourism via legalising casinos, while at the same time working to export elements of Japanese culture. This, naturally, brings with it a clear focus on non-gaming elements.
All in all, the industry appears to be very much hedging, as Scheri indicated. Amenities that do not deal explicitly with gaming bring lower revenue, but they may very well be a necessary and vital part of a sustainable gaming package nonetheless.
