Entertainment

Ch-ch-ch-Changes – Non-gaming amenity trends in the post-pandemic world

Posted on November 30, 2021

As a result of the pandemic, casino operators have had to rethink their non-gaming amenity strategy, altering their programs to better suit their consumers and improve their bottom line. In the past year, as the industry reopened, some patrons were happy to find a refreshed hotel room product, reconfigured food and beverage options, new entertainment choices, and other revitalized non-gaming products.  The pandemic gave operators a chance to redefine the entertainment experience.

Sports betting, while a gaming amenity, has dramatically changed the non-gaming offering provided by casinos across the United States.

From both a mobile and land-based perspective, sports betting has become intertwined with casinos’ amenity offerings. In legal markets, one would be hard pressed not to find sports betting applications up and running on people’s mobile phones in casino bars.  In these jurisdictions, casinos have been able to increase length of stay on property as well as spend on gaming and non-gaming items, particularly food and beverage.

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Research Brief: State Legislative Update on U.S. Sports Betting & Online Gaming – April 2021

Posted on April 13, 2021

The more things change, the more they stay the same

A year after the start of the Great Shutdown, the gaming and sports worlds are returning. The NCAA Division I Men’s basketball tournament ran its course with no major problems. The Masters is in full bloom in Augusta, and MLB threw its first pitch at the start of this month. This is all occurring while fans are returning to games and events as stadium capacity increases.

Legislative sessions are also in full bloom, with most of these sessions hitting their stride as some deadlines have passed while others are fast approaching. Several states are trying to get sports betting across the finish line before their session expires. Many of these are running into challenges, not just from a timing standpoint but also due to the legislative process. As seen in Georgia, sports betting died because of the voter law and the difference between parties. This is just one example of how legislation can either be changed dramatically, get killed, or die under its own death through the sheer weight of the process of legislation. While the issues may change over time, the same factors can make or break the process and cause well-intentioned groups and caucuses come apart because of other issues.

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Research Brief: State Legislative Update on U.S. Sports Betting & Online Gaming – March 2021

Posted on March 16, 2021

March Madness is Upon Us

For the first time in two years, sports fans will be able to wager on the NCAA Division I Men’s basketball tournament.  While the tournament went dark last year because of the Great Shutdown, legal sports betting has expanded significantly across the country since last March.  However, this does not preclude though the office pools that will still take place, especially in jurisdictions that still do not have legal sports wagering.  The NCAA tournament is one of the largest wagering opportunities in the year, in addition to the Super Bowl that took place just over one month ago.

One of the challenges that will be faced those in legal states is the ability to wager on the ‘home team’, as several of these states have banned wagers placed on local teams and contests including college sports taking place in that jurisdiction.  States across the country are looking to provide these same athletes with the ability to profit from their name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) but provide them “cover” when it comes to wagers being placed legal on them.  However, keeping student-athletes off the legal books only allows an illegal market to continue, exposing these athletes to more harms than protections.  For the integrity of the tournament and student-athletes, the best place for any sports wager is in the legal market without restrictions.

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The Return of the Roaring ’20s: As the world recovers from Covid-19, the stage is set for a comeback; will Vegas lead the charge?

Posted on March 1, 2021

The 100-year anniversary of the roaring ’20s is upon us as the world finally begins to look toward new beginnings in a post-pandemic world.  Many have pointed out that the Spanish flu (which preceded the Roaring ’20s) is analogous to Covid-19, presenting a similar potential opportunity for the world to emerge from a pandemic with a new era of historic economic prosperity, which would include a boon to the hospitality, F&B and tourism sectors.

As eager as the world may be to return to “normal” life, it is vitally important that safety and health practices do not give way to pent-up demand and impatience.  Luckily, customers see a light at the end of the tunnel with vaccines being distributed and certain destinations gradually lifting restrictions.  While reintroducing global travel and entertainment will take time, deestination markets around the world will look to regain their share of the soon-to-be-rejuvenated global tourism market.

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Strip Reset: COVID-19 is definitely challenging, but does the crisis present opportunities for a Vegas makeover?

Posted on May 16, 2020

Las Vegas soared until recent years, but we’ve reached the tipping point, where it’s necessary for the Strip to redefine itself again. Las Vegas is like no other place in the world. It’s the entertainment and sports capital of the world. It has the most amazing resorts. It just needs to remember our industry’s roots, redeliver on customer service, and provide value.

Covid-19 has devastated the industry and the greater Las Vegas economy. With the resulting industry shutdown, the city must take the opportunity to develop a strategy to reopen, reinvigorate and recapture its guests.

For the first time in well over a decade, both Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts, which between them operate 18 Las Vegas Strip resorts, have new leadership teams. These teams are comprised of seasoned casino industry professionals—not outsiders from professions other than hospitality—who have the ability to make these changes.

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10 Trends – ROI from the IRs

Posted on November 25, 2018

With competition increasing in casino markets across the world, many of the more astute casino operators are expanding and/or repositioning their facilities to differentiate themselves from their competition to better meet the needs of their customers. These operators have realized that they must create compelling environments and engaging experiences to fully penetrate their marketplaces and improve property performance.

Globally, casino operators have utilized the phrase “integrated resort” as a catalyst to redefine the casino experience. This strategy is not new, as it has been employed in markets like Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau. However, recent developments in these markets have truly reimagined the concept.

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Pampering, Purchasing, and Partying: More opportunity for increased revenue

Posted on September 16, 2017

Providing customers with experiences that exceed their expectations significantly improves the operator’s ability to attract and retain customers.

These experiences can be created in a casino resort environment in spa, retail, nightlife and entertainment in both destination and regional gaming markets. Customers who provide feedback
tend to be inclined to offer both positive and constructive feedback that focuses much on their non-gaming experiences.

Incorporating non-gaming amenities as a complement to the gaming experience provides customers a more complete and hospitality-driven visit. These concepts are not new. Carefully planned and well-executed non-gaming amenities provide operators with significant opportunities to increase revenue, profit, and ultimately, customer loyalty.

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Casinos and the City – A White Paper

Posted on April 16, 2015

Casinos and the places where they can be found have increased dramatically over the last twenty five years. Where at one time there were only a few places on the planet where one could go to participate in legal gambling activities, today casinos are a fairly common enterprise. In the United States alone, there are over 900 commercial and Indian gaming establishments. Casinos can be found not only in North America but also throughout Europe, Central and South America, Oceana and Asia.

Since the passage of the Casino Control Act in 1976, legalizing casino gaming in Atlantic City, NJ, casinos have been narrowly viewed as a tool for urban redevelopment, providing tax revenues to state and local governments and jobs to its citizens. Their success in providing those benefits cannot be disputed. Collectively, the casinos in Atlantic City, the riverboat and barge casinos in the Midwest and southeast United States, Indian casinos, and the land-based commercial casinos in a number of US cities as well as those on the Macau Peninsula and Singapore have contributed billions of dollars to government coffers and created hundreds of thousands of jobs. However, their success as a tool for stimulating commercial activity within the neighborhoods that they are located in has produced less dramatic results.

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Making Nightclubs Work

Posted on May 16, 2007

For years casino operators from around the world have looked to Las Vegas in order to spot emerging trends that could be adapted to their markets. The opening of Caesars Forum Shoppes in 1993 inspired other gaming operators to add shopping malls in order to broaden their reach into new markets. For example, the Viejas Casino in Alpine, California and the Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City, Louisiana developed stunning factory outlet malls to broaden their appeal and casinos in Atlantic City developed first-class shopping malls appurtenant to their casinos.

The more recent phenomenon of so-called “celebrity chef” and “eatertainment” restaurants in Las Vegas inspired casinos in regional markets to also add locally and nationally recognized restaurateurs to their food product offerings. Mohegan Sun features a restaurant by Boston-based Todd English, who opened Olives at Bellagio in 1998 and dozens of casinos now feature nationally recognized brands such as Ben and Jerry’s, Hooters and Wolfgang Puck Café.

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The Challenges of Developing a Casino Resort

Posted on November 16, 2006

Over the past fifteen years the Indian casino industry has evolved and so too have the individual properties that make up this industry. Many of these casinos have evolved from simple gaming operations housed in temporary structures to regional gaming entertainment centers, and some have succeeded in evolving into lavish full-scale resorts. While the evolution of a casino into a regional gaming entertainment center is often a natural and progressive form of casino development, the creation of a true casino resort is often a difficult, expensive and risky process. There is, in fact, a wealth of problems facing any casino operator that attempts to make the transition from a local oriented casino to a full-scale casino resort.

When conducting a market assessment for an expansion of a casino into a resort, consultants examine a number of variables including 1) the location of the proposed resort and
its ability to support this kind of development, 2) the expected demand for a resort from primary feeder markets, 3) the proposed quality level of the resort, 4) the kinds of amenities
that will support the resort experience, 5) the size of the proposed resort and the size of its related amenities, 6) the relative strength of the competition and 7) the ability of casino
management to effectively manage a full-scale resort operation. Misreading any of these variables can doom the project.

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