Illustrating the Impact of the Commercial Gaming Industry

Holly Wetzel, Vice President of Communications, American Gaming Association

FACT: The economic impact of the commercial gaming industry is equivalent to 1 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.

Surprised? It’s true! Commercial casinos provide jobs, tax revenues, business opportunities for suppliers and a diverse array of entertainment options for our customers. When you factor in how casinos impact the supply chain and employee spending trickles down through the economy, the positive impact of our business spreads well beyond our casino walls.

To learn more, check out the AGA’s new two-minute video “illustrating” the economic impact of commercial casinos:

Share this video and help spread the word about how commercial casinos help the economy.  And be on the lookout for more videos coming from the AGA throughout the year to help educate key stakeholders about our business. 

Examining the Future of Gaming

Brian Lehman, Communications Manager, American Gaming Association

This week, the American Gaming Association (AGA) released the 2013 State of the States: The AGA Survey of Casino Entertainment, and this year’s edition of the report, as usual, contains a comprehensive look at national and state-by-state economic impacts of the commercial casino industry, including gross gaming revenue, gaming tax contributions, employment and wages.

Another popular feature of the annual survey is public opinion polling that delves into the gambling habits and attitudes of casino visitors and the general public. This year, we took a closer look at young adult casino visitors with a survey of 300 past-year casino visitors age 21-35. Visitors are paramount to the success of the industry, and taking a look at this younger adult demographic allows us to get a glimpse of what casino companies may be offering in the future.

On the whole, the polling results show similar overall gambling habits for this younger cohort when compared to those of the general visitor population. However, some notable differences include the fact that young adults have the highest rate (39 percent) of casino visitation compared to other age groups. In addition to visiting casinos at a higher rate, young adult casino-goers are more likely to come back, as 90 percent said they plan to return to a casino in the next year (compared with 79 percent of the general population of casino-goers who said the same). Young adult visitors don’t just gamble in casinos, they also are more likely to participate in other forms of gambling like casual betting with friends, playing poker or gambling on the Internet.

When it comes to their activities during casino visits, young adult patrons are more likely to utilize all categories of non-gaming amenities such as dining, shopping or live entertainment. The games they like to play also differ somewhat, and while slot machines are their favorite games (just like the general population of visitors), table games are more popular among this age group, and young adult visitors are more likely to take part in a variety of different games during the course of a single visit.

All of this information and more is available in the State of the States report. Check it out and take a deep dive into the present and future of the commercial casino industry.

Around the World with Global Gaming Women

By Keli Elkins, Vice President of Industry Relations, American Gaming Association

Spring is an exciting time for the industry with conferences and trade shows scheduled around the globe. Global Gaming Women (GGW) is thrilled to be partnering with many event organizers to host our own programs at each. In fact, during the first week of May, you’ll find GGW at events from Panama all the way to Montreal.

On Tuesday, May 7, Southern Gaming Summit will host a GGW Luncheon in Gulfport, Miss. as part of the kick-off to their annual proceedings. At Island View Casino, AGA Senior Vice President and Executive Director Judy Patterson will moderate a top-notch panel of female gaming executives during a live take on GGW’s popular Coffee Break video series. Confirmed panelists include: June DeHart, partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLC; Holly Gagnon, CEO, Pearl River Resorts; Elaine Hodgson, CEO and president, Incredible Technologies, Inc.; Cathy MacKenzie, vice president and general counsel, Island View Casino; Sheila Morago, executive director, Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association; and Suszanne Trout, CMO, Rush Street Gaming.

Later that week, GGW looks forward to engaging several new audiences when it hosts events for the first time in Latin America and Canada. Monografie and Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) will sponsor a GGW Luncheon at the SAGSE Central America & Caribbean event in Panama on Thursday, May 9. Marta Sanchez of Covey Consulting will be the featured speaker. The following day, on Friday, May 10, GGW will join with the International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL) for a GGW Breakfast at the IMGL Spring Conference in Montreal.

Finally, at the end of the month, G2E will host GGW during G2E Asia in Macau. The breakfast event on May 23 will feature speed mentoring roundtables facilitated by experienced gaming executives from the region.

Do not miss out on the growing calendar of GGW events – join our mailing list today at www.globalgamingwomen.org, where you also can register or find out more about all of the programs mentioned above. We look forward to seeing you at GGW events this spring!

An Exciting Lineup for the 14th Annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction

By Amy Kugler, communications and outreach manager for the National Center for Responsible Gaming

This is the time each year that I get most excited about the many incredible speakers that are on the docket for the NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction. This event co-locates each year with G2E, allowing industry members, regulators, academics, researchers and clinicians the opportunity to continue discussing practical applications of the latest research on gambling disorders and responsible gaming.

Mark your calendars and join us for the 14^th annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction September 22-24 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. This year’s conference will examine how the Affordable Care Act and the American Psychiatric Association’s newly revised diagnostic guide – the highly anticipated DSM-5 – will impact the field of gambling disorders and addiction as a whole. Here are some of the sessions and topics that we’re looking forward to examining:

• Behind the Screen: Characteristics of Internet Gamblers Who Trigger Responsible Gaming Interventions – Dr. Heather Gray from the Division on Addiction, Cambridge Health Alliance will present about her recent studies that examine what responsible gaming interventions can tell us about Internet gamblers with potential problems.

• Lessons for the Effective Promotion of Responsible Gaming: leaders with expertise in cause-related marketing campaigns will lead a discussion of some potential ways to expand the communication of some of the industry’s responsible gaming programs.

• The Evolving Definition of Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders – William Narrow, director of research for the committee that revised the DSM-5, will discuss the changes in the diagnostic criteria for gambling disorders and how those revisions may impact key stakeholders.

We also are putting together a town hall meeting for gaming regulators to bring them face-to-face with the leading scientists on responsible gaming issues, to open a dialogue about the next frontier of research on this issue.

We hope you’ll join us for this year’s NCRG Conference! For more information, visit www.ncrg.org/conference. 

An Industry of Giving

By Holly Wetzel, VP of Communications, American Gaming Association

Did you know that commercial gaming industry employees contribute nearly 300,000 volunteer hours a year? That data comes from a new report on industry giving and volunteering coming soon from the American Gaming Association, and I think it’s a pretty impressive figure. According to the report, in 2012 more than 36,000 industry employees participated in volunteer events that served more than 2,000 organizations.

The AGA conducted the survey of industry philanthropic contributions as part of its annual “All In” campaign to highlight the corporate social responsibility efforts of the commercial gaming industry. The full report will be released next week during National Volunteer Week, and gaming employees across the country will be participating in a host of volunteer activities to help their communities.

Here’s just a taste of what’s planned for next week:

·      Aristocrat Technologies has several staff volunteer events planned next week in Las Vegas, including building wooden toys for Toys4Smiles, assembling food and toiletry bags for seniors at Helping Hands, and organizing rooms and helping with spring cleaning at Street Teens.

Every Ameristar casino across the country will be hosting volunteer activities for employees. Examples include Ameristar Black Hawk, where employees will help put on the 2013 Craig Hospital Bowling Tournament. The corporate office in Las Vegas will help run an eyeglass donation drive in conjunction with the local Lion’s Club.

Isle of Capri properties also are getting in on the volunteer action. Isle of Capri Lake Charles employees will help build houses with Habitat for Humanity and host a resident birthday party at the local Gardens Assisted Living Center, among other activities.

Isle of Capri Boonville has big plans as well. Examples of planned activities include food prep at the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri, and cleaning, general maintenance and storm cleanup at Columbia Second Chance.

MGM Resorts International employees in Las Vegas will be working at the Desert Wildlife Refuge to plant native trees, flowers and perform grounds cleanup.

In addition to these activities, the AGA will use National Volunteer Week to celebrate some of the most outstanding employee volunteers throughout the national gaming industry. Companies throughout the industry nominated Employee Volunteer All Stars, and the stories of our winners and finalists will be featured in a special section of the AGA website. I encourage you to check out their inspiring stories next week at www.americangaming.org.  Take some time this month to learn more about your own company’s volunteer programs, and think about how you can get involved. The gaming industry truly is an industry of giving – when we all work together, the impact we can make is truly noteworthy.

What Do College Basketball and College Gambling Have in Common?

By Amy Kugler, Communications and Outreach Manager for the National Center for Responsible Gaming

Even though they didn’t advance to the championship game, I was ecstatic to cheer for my hometown team, the Wichita State University Shockers, in the NCAA Final Four Men’s Basketball tournament. College students around the country also enjoy getting in on the March Madness action by filling out a bracket – and maybe even placing a wager on a game. Research shows that 75 percent of college students gambled in the past year. Many college students assume gambling is a risk-free activity, but research has shown that for about 6 percent of the population, gambling for fun could turn into a serious problem.

To help students, university administrators, campus mental health professionals and parents address gambling and gambling-related harms on college campuses, the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) developed CollegeGambling.org. The website brings together the latest research and best practices in responsible gaming and the field of addiction awareness and prevention. CollegeGambling.org also provides free resources, fact sheets, presentations and other useful program materials that allow universities to address this issue in a way best suited to the needs of each campus.

The NCRG also has an interactive quiz on CollegeGambling.org that explains both the research on college gambling and the trivia behind the NCAA basketball tournaments. You might even learn a few key research facts and trivia to use during watch parties for next year’s tournament.

Even though the tournament is over, make sure to take the interactive quiz, visit CollegeGambling.org and pass the information along to any college students or their parents.

Players Club debuts at G2E Asia

By Mike Johnson, Director of Sales & Industry Development

Several years ago we at Reed Exhibitions restructured some of our marketing departments to create a new “Targeted Attendee Program,” or “TAP” for short, which is essentially a division responsible for recruiting the top buyers our exhibitors want to see at our events. That program within the G2E portfolio is called “Players Club,” and we’re very excited to be implementing that winning philosophy at G2E Asia next month in Macau. 

Through a series of ongoing conversations with our exhibiting customers, as well as independent research, we have been hitting the road throughout the year meeting with a variety of casino mangers in various markets to promote our content.  I myself will be leaving for another trip to Macau next Friday, and then I’ll be going on to the Philippines to meet with senior management from a variety of properties, including the new Solaire resort which just opened in Manila, as well as our friends at PAGCOR.  

I’m really looking forward to meeting with various managers responsible for table games, electric games, and security/surveillance which comprises the makeup of the Players Club and in turn the major product categories represented on the G2E show floors. 

We’re also visiting properties in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Cambodia, Laos, and of course Macau which we frequent often via our nearby offices in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. This extensive ongoing dialogue with our exhibiting companies and strategic visitors is paramount in efforts to provide a G2E Asia event with unmatched business development opportunities. We’re a company that produces face-to-face meetings for industry professionals, and the best way to facilitate that type of business is for us to meet face to face with the ones we serve. I’m looking forward to seeing many of them soon!