A simple way for Casinos to attract Millennials – and show them how to Enjoy Gambling! ~ By: Victor H Royer
In my 33 years in Las Vegas, I’ve read a lot of magazines. Trade magazines, consumer magazines, Gaming, Leisure, Travel, and so on. Mostly on casino gaming, casino games, and the business of Casinos, and casino gambling. I have also written for a lot of these publications – more than 4,000 articles to date, and counting. Actually – I lost the count a few years ago, but I still have all my computers – dating all the way back to 1984 – and so I can fire them up, and revisit at least some of those writings.
In recent times, most of the Gaming Industry literature has been a lot about Millennials, and how they “don’t gamble.” How they “look for non-gaming attractions”, and so on. At the same time, many of these reports and writings quote and/ or paraphrase a slew of gaming executives – from manufacturers, to suppliers, to casino operators – all of whom seem to be universally in a common panic over these pesky Millennials.
The questions they always seem to ask – and over which they all seem to puzzle – is this: “Why is it that Millennials don’t gamble? How can we get them into the Casino? How can we turn them from Club-goers to Casino Players?”
And so on.
Valid questions, of course.
The problem is, though, that many of the leading casino operators have kind of dropped the ball on this. Instead of looking for solutions to make GAMBLING the CENTER of their operations, they are doing everything BUT. And that results in further attrition of the gambling dollar, and declining revenue from casino operations. Nevertheless, these same executives and casino operators are investing hundreds of millions – and even Billions – of dollars in all things NON-gaming, and then wonder: “How come the figures aren’t working out?”
One of the reasons is that while casino operators are paying less and less attention to their core business – namely the CASINO – they are at the same time raiding and plundering the revenue from their casino operations in order to bolster the sagging revenue and increasing LOSSES from their misguided NON-gaming operations!
The CASINO is still making money – and it always will. But sucking the profits and resources from the casino operations – while ignoring them and their needs – and then using those proceeds to bolster the loss-leaders in their erroneously-conceived non-gaming investments only serves to place more and more undue burdens on the one aspect that still DOES make money – the CASINO – while at the same time distressing that very money-maker by using it as a cash-cow to cover the losses in those very same ill-conceived non-gaming operations.
And – lately – these same executives and casino operators have latched onto the Millennials as the culprit that is, and will continue to, cause their casinos to lose money, because they “just don’t gamble”. It’s this argument that the casino operators and their executives are using to try and answer, and understand, the decline in casino revenue and casino players. That fear is – somewhat – real. Eventually, in the next 10-20 years, the aging Millennials will have more and more disposable income, and they will become the core customers of all businesses – not just the casino. And that’s why it’s even more important TODAY, to stop this nonsense with NON-gaming attractions, and get the Millennials to start GAMBLING they can then see this website for canadian players.
But how?
Actually, it’s simple.
Millennials just don’t know the thrills and excitement of the CASINO experience. And no one has SHOWN THEM. At least not to date. Both the OEM’s and Casino Operators have jointly ignored this group. Instead, they are trying to replicate the SOCIAL GAMING with which these Millennials have grown up, and which is still a large part of their lives.
But that’s NOT the right way. That’s NOT the key.
Everyone is missing the point!
Why?
Because everyone has FORGOTTEN just exactly WHAT kind of a business they are IN.
OEM’s are NOT in the business of making “social games” – at least not as these may apply to CASINO GAMBLING.
Clubs and Day Clubs, Celebrity Chef restaurants, Conventions, meeting halls, Art Galleries, or even lagoons in the middle of the desert in a drought, and an Island in the middle.
All of this is wasted money, because none of it gets the Millennials into the casino!
And – for places like Las Vegas – and for any place where the company is in the business of GAMBLING, this SHOULD matter.
OK – so how do we get these Millennials to gamble?
By realizing what they have NOT experienced!
Millennials grew up with cell phones, computers, tablets, video games, Internet, online games, and so on. To them, that’s “normal.” They don’t even give it a thought. And when they go to the Casino today, that’s all they see – the SAME STUFF. Video games. Video this and that. Stuff they already HAVE experienced. So, while nice, and great to try, it’s not something that captures their on-going interest. At least not in the kind of numbers that the casino industry would like to see. And that’s also why the Millennials are gravitating more to Table Games, with REAL CARDS and Real Chips, because that’s not something that they have – or can – experience on their smart phone or tablets. At least not the in REAL way – tangible, tactile way, like holding real cards, real chips, real money, and real dice.
Is the light beginning to dawn here? Are you starting to get the point?
Let me ask you this: What’s the ONE THING that NO Millennials have experienced in the casino?
Are you thinking? Tick-tick-tick … OK, time’s up.
When I first came to Las Vegas, and to my first casino, what was the overwhelmingly exciting thing that I – or anyone coming into a casino – could experience?
The SOUND OF MONEY.
Yup – the SOUND of MONEY!
Money falling out of slot machines! Real money that could be put into a slot machine, a handle that could be pulled, reels that would clang and rattle, and then the symbols on the machine would line up, and PRESTO! Money falls out! What a THRILL! And justifiably so.
But Millennials have NEVER had that experience. They have NEVER SEEN a slot machine in a casino that DROPS MONEY.
So, here’s what you do:
If you are a Casino Operators, designate a portion of your casino floor for coin-and-token-operated slots. Either buy the old ones, the reall One-Armed- Bandits from the 1950’s and 1960’s, as well as the electro-mechanical slots from the 1970’s and 1980’s, or make a deal with one or more of the OEM’s to make them for you.
Then put up signage in your casino that says: Nostalgia Slots. Or: Classic Vegas. Or something like that. Then make sure that you have good staffing 24/7 – this means Change Carts with real money and tokens. Attendants to handle fills and coin jams. Supervisors to handle player and other issues as they come up. A good Hard Count team. And so on. And have them there in sufficient staffing numbers – even at night – so that players can actually get the service they deserve, like they used get to way back when, when Casinos still WERE casinos.
And then PROMOTE this as a great NEW experience!
Now the Millennials will suddenly have a reason to go to the casino, to stay in the casino, LEARN TO ENJOY GAMBLING, and consequently become your new customer base FOR the Casino.
And, if you are a manufacturer, you can do this too. Make a deal with a casino operator. Make these kinds of machines for them, and you’ll both profit from it.
And that’s how you’ll get Millennials to LOVE the Casino, and casino games. They will now UNDERSTAND the THRILL of the Casino, and will therefore have a better appreciation for it, and for the great entertainment that it
provides. MUCH better than those noisy, overpriced Night Clubs!
So, if you’re a Casino Operators, or OEM, go ahead – just do it. And, if you do, remember where you got the idea. Send me a check. I can then use it to play the kinds of games I loved when I first came to the Casino.
Casino Operators are NOT in the business of Shopping Malls, Arcades, Roller Coasters, Ferris Wheels, Sports Arenas, head-banging noisy Night
Victor H Royer is President of Gaming Services & Research. He is a 33 year veteran of Las Vegas gaming, a 26 year consultant to the gaming industry, author of 47 books, and more than 4,000 articles on casino games and gaming. In addition he has researched and authored over 300 industry reports on the subject of player preferences, marketing, player development and customer relations. He can be reached at: DrVHR@aol.com
