That was the title of a speech that I attended on July 6th by William
Eadington (Univ of NV-Reno, professor who has written extensively on the
casino industry). This was one of the programs for the Mensa annual gathering at
Silver Legacy in Reno.
Figured I better submit this before I forget all the details.
Prof. Eadington really knew his subject as he was tossing out facts
non-stop during his 90-minute speech.
Some fast facts:
In 1988, there were only 2 states with gambling. Now there are 40.
Gambling has been in Las Vegas for 80 yrs, reaching $8 billion in 2011.
The new era of modern casinos in Macao started in 2004. In 2007, revenue
equaled LV revenue. It's now at $34 billion.
In 2010, Singapore opened 2 casinos. Next yr the 2 casinos did $6 billion
& are the most profitable casinos extant.
The facts above explain where the Asian high-rollers went. What about the
others? For NV, the proliferation of Indian casinos in CA has literally
gutted its target market of gamblers from SF Bay Area & Southern Cal. dropping
visitor count by half to two-thirds. Today CA has 64 casinos & $6 billion
in revenue.
If you think the pie can't be spread much thinner, you'd be wrong. The
shocks still to come are the spread of gambling to the last 10 states but
that's not the worst of it. If Internet gambling is allowed (just a matter of
time) and sweepstakes gambling parlors **(strip mall shops disguised as
Internet cafes) spread, these would mimic the casino experience with the same
games with the difference that you could stay put & play your favorite games.
In other words, you don't need to make a trip to real bricks & mortar
casinos.
Prof. Eadington wasn't trying to be downbeat about the industry but that's
the way it came out. Afterwards I asked him if there was any way to reverse
the trend, especially in NV. He thought about it for a minute & said "No
I can't think of any."
**Several companies sell the software for sweepstakes gambling parlors. The
busiest one is in Sacramento, CA. Last year, Businees Week did an article
titled "The Casino Next Door"
_http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_18/b4226076180073.htm_
(http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_18/b4226076180073.htm)
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