Operations

Rethinking Food & Beverage

Posted on May 16, 2019

Of all the issues facing casino leadership, there is no greater quandary than solving the food & beverage equation. Restaurants in particular, present a host of issues. They are notoriously expensive to operate, consuming copious amounts of labor and product costs. Rarely do individual outlets post a profit and departmental profit is often dependent on beverage sales. High levels of customer satisfaction can be difficult to achieve, given that many players visit the same restaurant outlets on each visit, and in turn get bored with the menu selection. Perhaps the hardest aspect is balancing the needs of very frequent players while using food & beverage as a tool to attract new customers. Given all this, it may be time for casino operators to rethink their food & beverage programs.

Both commercial casinos in regional markets and Indian casino operators have historically adopted the same basic restaurant strategies, offering a buffet, three-meal room, quick-serve outlet and perhaps a more upscale steakhouse/ special occasion restaurant. Before undertaking a wholesale redesign of food & beverage outlets, it is important to understand how this basic suite of restaurant products came to be and then ask if those products meet the needs of the business and the preferences of today’s customers.

View Full Article Read More

Lessons from the Casino Industry

Posted on January 16, 2019

The casino gaming industry has long been perceived as a competitor to state lotteries. While it can be argued that the country’s adult population has a limited budget for all kinds of wagering, lotteries and casinos have, in fact, long operated in harmony. Casino expansion across the United States has not impeded growth of lotteries and lotteries did not affect the growth of casino gaming. The reality is that lotteries and casinos do not so much compete as share gamers. People buy scratch cards and draw tickets from budgets that are exclusive of casino gaming budgets. This is most evident during periodic events of lottery frenzy, when mega-jackpots attract widespread consumer and media interest. In those states that offer both casino gaming and lotteries, casino gambling does not decline during mega-jackpot events.

Both industries have grown but for different reasons. State and provincial lotteries continue to introduce new games and improve merchandising at the point of purchase. Lotteries also continue to expand their channels of distribution, signing up new retailers, and increasing the number of vending machine locations. Casino operators also continue to introduce new games, primarily electronic, and enhance their gaming environments. They also employ a variety of marketing strategies that are mostly unavailable to, or have never been considered by, state lotteries. Nonetheless, there are valuable lessons that lottery operators can learn from the casino gaming industry – in particular, customer engagement and customer relationship management.

View Full Article Read More

An Introduction to Sports Betting Operations

Posted on July 1, 2018

With the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), Indian casinos, commercial casinos, state governments, lotteries, and racetracks are all examining the feasibility of offering sports betting in their jurisdictions and creating legislative paths to bring sports betting to fruition. Sports leagues are also taking an active role, lobbying state legislators and even trying to get Congress to pass legislation that would federally mandate that they receive a cut of total wagering handle.

View Full Article Read More

Deep Dive: The Future of Sports Betting in the United States

Posted on February 16, 2018

As the nation awaits the upcoming decision by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in Christie v. NCAA, various stakeholders are evaluating their next steps, and how to maximize the revenue potential from legalized sports betting.

Today, a federal law known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) limits most legal sports betting to Nevada and three other states. This article examines the critical success factors for sports wagering in the United States and the operators that will be best positioned to provide the products and services that sports wagering customers will seek.

View Full Article Read More

The Millennial Is Not Your Customer

Posted on November 27, 2017

Millennial has become the new buzzword and focus of the gaming industry and commerce as a whole.

What do millennials like? How do we design our product to attract millennials? Should we serve only organic food in our restaurants and provide beard trimmers in our bathrooms?
Some casinos believe that millennials prefer table games over slots. Or, for slots, millennials will like skill-based games, so money should be invested in skill-based pits. Despite many casinos trying to attract millennials, not one casino has succeeded in a meaningful way.

The reason is that millennials will not be valuable casino customers for another 20 years

View Full Article Read More

An Examination of sports betting in America

Posted on November 15, 2017

On December 4, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) will hear New Jersey’s case to have the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”) overturned. This review of PASPA, which effectively limits legal sports betting to only the state of Nevada, and to a lesser extent Delaware, Montana, and Oregon, has the potential to be a landmark states’ rights decision. To the gaming and hospitality industry, it has the potential to allow for another source of gaming entertainment and improve profit levels for operators. To government authorities, it has the potential to reduce illegal gaming activities and increase tax revenues.

View Full Article Read More

Expanding Hospitality

Posted on August 16, 2017

In this, our second in a series of discussions about the role of non-gaming amenities in both destination and regional gaming markets, we focus on the extraordinary and ongoing evolution of hotels, and how to assess, strategize and implement change.

The “lens” we use is comprised of five attributes that, when integrated, provide operators with a framework to create a comprehensive strategy for developing a new hotel or rebranding and refurbishing an existing one: the strategic assessment lens. This approach has helped several operators create new development and rebranding strategies for successful restaurants, bars, nightlife, entertainment and retail venues, casinos and hotels.

View Full Article Read More

The 5 Ps of F&B Success

Posted on June 20, 2017

In today’s business environment, casino operators must find ways to enhance and maximize the appeal and gross operating income of their food and beverage venues. An effective food and beverage strategy should not only attract and retain gamers, but generate profit through proper pricing and planning.

Las Vegas Strip operators have clearly demonstrated how profit can be gleaned from F&B operations. Bars and restaurants today are a significant generator of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for many Vegas resorts. Outside Vegas, many operators have discovered how well-run restaurants and bars with quality food offerings can benefit the bottom line.

While regional casinos differ substantially from those on the Strip, they can apply the same practices to turn a profit from dining.

View Full Article Read More

Strategies to Grow International Tourism into Las Vegas and Stimulate Economic Activity

Posted on November 16, 2015

Few would argue that sustained growth in air passenger volume into Las Vegas is a critical factor in the health and vibrancy of the Southern Nevada tourism industry. While McCarran International Airport (“LAS”) continues to enjoy steady growth in domestic passenger volume, growth in international traffic has experienced a far higher rate in the last five years, fueled by the opening of the new international terminal and marketing initiatives by the Clark County Department of Aviation. International visitation grew from 14% of total visitor volume in 2009 to 20% in 2013.1 International tourism continues to represent the greatest opportunity for new market growth, particularly visitors from Asian countries.

View Full Article Read More

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.

View Full Article Read More