Technological advances, new forms of gambling and nongambling amenities will be among the themes of a major casino industry conference in Las Vegas this week.
The Global Gaming Expo, an annual gathering that brings together professionals from across the industry, starts today at the Sands Expo Center and lasts through Thursday. As always, expect the conference — also known as G2E — to highlight the newest games from slot machine companies and others eager to show off their most cutting-edge products.
But this year’s conference won’t be exactly like previous iterations of G2E. In addition to the standard showroom floor full of new casino games, organizers this year are debuting what they call the “Integrated Resort Experience.” It will be divided into six sections, one for each of the major components of modern casino-resorts: hotel rooms, food and beverage, entertainment, meetings, spas and, of course, gaming.
The setup echoes the fact that at many casino properties, gambling is no longer the dominant revenue generator: On the Strip, gambling was responsible for about 36 percent of total revenue in fiscal year 2014. That’s down from more than 58 percent in fiscal year 1984, according to the UNLV Center for Gaming Research.
Here are a few other things to expect from this year’s G2E:
The industry will continue to explore the ever-changing relationship between gambling and technology.
Long a source of discussion as casinos evolve to meet the needs of the 21st century, technology will present itself in several different ways at G2E.
One of the most hotly debated topics in the industry right now, the explosive popularity of daily fantasy sports, is the subject of a seminar Tuesday titled “Business Threat or Opportunity: Sports Betting, Daily Fantasy and the Ongoing Debate.”
Fueled by Internet competitions in which players can win hefty cash prizes, daily fantasy sports have irked many who view it as akin to gambling. But sports wagering is largely illegal outside Nevada, whereas daily fantasy sports is widespread — and legal — in most of the country. The operators generally maintain that their activities are a form of skill and, therefore, not gambling. Jason Robins, the CEO of daily fantasy sports provider DraftKings, is set to speak with gaming industry executives during the seminar.
Another area where technology’s intersection with gambling has been front and center is in Nevada’s foray into skill-based slot machines. The Nevada Gaming Commission recently approved regulations for the new games, and the issue is the subject of a seminar. The new regulations may also begin to affect some of the games shown off — or at least the tenor of the slot machine companies.
Other more established high-tech areas of the gambling industry, namely online and social gaming, will continue to be discussed in seminars and likely displayed in products on the showroom floor.
Featured speeches will shed light on the state of the gaming industry — and its future potential.
Steve Wynn recalls a funny story from his past during a keynote speech during the Global Gaming Expo, G2E, the gaming industry's big annual convention taking place at the Sands Expo on Tuesday, September 30, 2014. Photo by: L.E. Baskow
Although last year’s keynote addresses came from major casino executives, Wynn Resorts Ltd. CEO Steve Wynn and Las Vegas Sands Corp. CEO Sheldon Adelson, some of this year’s biggest speakers are not as directly involved in casino operations.
Geoff Freeman, president of the American Gaming Association, will kick off the Tuesday of G2E with an address about the state of the gaming industry. That same morning, attendees will hear from Jeffrey Ma, a business strategist and data analysis expert who was once famously a member of the MIT Blackjack Team. Ma’s story inspired the book “Bringing Down the House” and the film “21.” Organizers said he will “seamlessly connect his experiences at the blackjack table to business analytics, innovation and the power of data.”
Then, on Wednesday morning, new Caesars Entertainment Corp. CEO Mark Frissora will join Scientific Games Corp. CEO Gavin Isaacs and Rush Street Gaming LLC CEO Greg Carlin. The discussion is one of Frissora’s first major public appearances since he officially took the reins at Caesars earlier this year. It will be moderated by Bo Bernhard, the executive director of UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, and should touch on industry trends and the impact of regulations on growth, among other topics.
Perhaps the most unique keynote will come Thursday, when Unikrn CEO and co-founder Rahul Sood addresses the conference. Sood’s company is a wagering service entirely dedicated to e-sports, or competitive video gaming.
The conference will honor accomplished people in gaming and entertainment.
As part of this year’s G2E, the Gaming Hall of Fame will receive three new members Wednesday: Victor Salerno, Lynn Valbuena and Larry Woolf. They each represent different areas of the casino industry.
Salerno comes from the sports book side of the industry, where he is credited with being one of the first to provide telephone account wagering and debuting the self-serve sports wagering kiosk. He is currently the chairman of the board of sports book operator William Hill U.S.
Valbuena comes from the tribal gaming side of the industry, currently serving as chairwoman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in California. She has also been chairwoman of the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations for two decades, a capacity in which she “works tirelessly to advance tribal sovereign governmental rights, cultural identity and the interests of those tribes located in the Central District of California,” according to a statement from G2E organizers. She was also the executive secretary of the National Indian Gaming Association from 1997 until 2011.
Woolf’s background is in the commercial casino side of the industry, where he has been an executive and founder of his own firm. He was president of both Caesars Tahoe, where he is credited with starting the first companywide hair drug-testing program, and MGM Grand, where he “broke new ground” by opening the casino with “a roster of celebrity chefs,” according to G2E organizers. Woolf also created the Navegante Group, a casino management and consulting firm.
G2E will also honor people from the nongaming side of the industry by presenting comedian Jerry Lewis and veteran casino entertainment executive H.C. Rowe with Casino Entertainment Legend awards.