| It is all very confusing for me: Where is it going? Who will regulate it? In the conventional wisdom of casino operations, this could be the worst of all worlds: Competition moves into the very homes of your best customers and the federal government gains an entree into national gaming regulation. Size does not hurt when you hire entertainment or expand your slot club, but it might not be enough in the confusing world of Internet gaming. Park Place Entertainment Corp. unveils its $95 million Coliseum theater Tuesday at Caesars Palace with a music and dance extravaganza led by pop diva Celine Dion. …Unlike past generations of attractions in Las Vegas, this venue is no loss leader. Park Place expects to reap a 20 percent return on additional business the show will draw to the company's retail, dining and gambling venues. Liz Benston, Las Vegas Sun, 3-21-03 Park Place Entertainment Corp. expects to introduce a second phase of its slot player loyalty club card, Connection Card, …"Connection Comps" can be spent in any of Park Place's five Las Vegas resorts. Las Vegas Sun, 4-24-03 Park Place Entertainment Corp.'s Internet commerce division has been redeployed and the head of the division has left the company, a move that comes a few weeks after the company announced that it would hold off on developing an online gambling site for non-U.S. bettors. Liz Benston and Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun, 4-1-03 The latest and most efficient technology, the best management available, unique entertainers with an international audience and good employment benefit programs, may not guarantee success, but it puts Park Place and the other giants one leg up on the competition. The owners of the Reno Turf Club downtown are trying to relocate the club's unrestricted gaming license to an upscale neighborhood in Reno, on McCarran Boulevard just north of Fourth Street. …The Turf Club's gaming license is grandfathered, exempting the Cal Neva from building a hotel with the new casino. Thomas J. Walsh, 4- …transformation of Treasure Island's exterior, changing the megaresort's look to match its evolution from a pirate-themed property to a hip spot with allure to value-conscious adults. …"We've evolved from a yo-ho-ho feel to a more sophisticated feel," Treasure Island President Scott Sibella said. Jeff Simpson, Gaming Wire, 4-22-03 Nevada is very pregnant with gaming. When the revenue base of the state or its major cities is threatened by competition from other states and the Internet, one can expect a competitive response. This is only the first round of ideas, and it bears remembering that we are really in the first year of realization that the go-go years are gone and the future promises nothing to resemble that growth. I wonder what will be proposed next? And finally, a study from Oregon that says a great deal about the state of gaming in general. In the study fewer people in Oregon gambled, but spent more. The economy and war caused people to be more cautious. Travel was reduced, so that local Indian casinos benefited and Reno casinos felt the pinch. A new study says fewer Oregonians gambled at the state's eight tribal casinos last year, but that those who did spent more per capita than in 2001. Oregonians last year spent $357 million gambling at tribal casinos in the state, up almost 15 percent from the $310.7 million in 2001, according to a study by Bob Whelan, an economist with ECONorthwest, a Eugene-based economic consulting firm. Whelan, who has studied gambling in Oregon for more than a decade, directed similar studies in 1998 and 2000. Despite the spending increase, Whelan found the number of Oregonians going to casinos is falling. In a survey of 800 residents, only 17.4 percent said they gambled at a casino in Oregon, down from the 24.5 percent reported in 1998. "The tribal casinos aren't new anymore," Whelan said. Whelan found that the casinos last year were helped by the weak state and national economies. "When the Oregon economy weakens, consumers opt to spend more of the leisure time dollars locally," he said. "This came at the expense of Las Vegas and Reno." KVAL 13 News (Eugene, Oregon), 5-22-03 That is a snap shot of the gaming industry today. The economy has kept people closer to home. There are less people going to casinos, though they may be spending slightly more. Casinos that have cropped up closer to home have cut into the business of the traditional destinations or put another way, the market area of every casino is shrinking. The situation might change, but with the likelihood of increased taxes and competition and fewer people willing to take a risk, the near-term prospects for gaming operators are not as bright as they were five or 10 years ago. Gaming has matured; it is now a very competitive industry, where the largest, best-capitalized and best-managed companies have a significant advantage over the rest of the field. Harrah's was ranked No. 1 for hotel operations by a gaming company in the first quarter 2003 Market Metrix Hospitality Index, which is comprised of 135 hotel brands, 25 airlines and 11 car rental companies. Reno Gazette-Journal, 5-15-03 The newest addition to Harrah's outdoor Plaza, the Xtreme Park is open seven days a week from noon to 9 p.m. and features a variety of thrill ride attractions. "The Xtreme Machine is the most exhilarating vertical attraction currently available in the world," said John Moriarty, co-owner of the Xtreme Park. Reno Gazette-Journal, 5-8-03 |
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