2024’s Global Gaming Expo “officially” kicked off yesterday, though one could easily have been fooled, judging by the rabbit warren of activity on Monday. Having covered two panels, plus an interview, plus writing five stories yesterday (all on two hours’ sleep), we confess to a serious case of G2E fatigue—with two days remaining. And since the co-parent of G2E is the American Gaming Association, it was (per ancient custom) the prerogative of AGA prexy Bill Miller to be the first keynote speaker of the show.
Miller’s 2024 remarks were mostly on point. He didn’t air any complaints. Indeed, his first topic was how business is better than ever. When you preside over a $67 billion-a-year industry, it’s not fitting to whinge. One thing Miller might have rethought was the topic heading: “Betting on the Next Generation.” We see that headline in newspapers on a near-daily basis … and not in a good way. The notion of saying that your big plan is to plunder Generation Z made for an absolutely terrible optic. On a related note, sports betting is coming under a deafening drumbeat of criticism in the mass media and at the federal level. (At a state level it’s a non-issue.) Miller wasted an opportunity to get out in front of the issue, which was a mistake.
Following Miller was Flutter Entertainment CEO Peter Jackson. If you’ve not heard of Flutter, you know its progeny, FanDuel. Jackson’s comments were substantive and free of industry jargon, if frequently hard to hear. It helped that his interlocutor was CNBC‘s outstanding Contessa Brewer. The latter shows exceptional understanding of the gaming industry, especially for the mainstream media. She speaks the lingo and boils it down to the nitty-gritty admirably. She didn’t have as much success with MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle. His answers tended to be glib and pre-digested. MGM is definitely emphasizing the “international” part of its name, but that’s a topic for a different day.
A tight schedule of coverage has meant that, as of Day Three, we have yet to set foot on the exhibit floor itself. So we can’t say anything substantive, or even superficial on that topic. We are, however, becoming intimately familiar with the infrastructural shortcomings of Venelazzo and Venetian Expo Center themselves. Whatever Apollo Management is doing with its $1.2 billion makeover, it’s not enough. Not only are restrooms at a premium but the entire complex (which technonphobe Sheldon Adelson once wanted to rename “MEGACENTRE.” Ugh!) is thickly studded with mobile dead spots, rendering one’s cellphones almost useless. We missed one important meeting because of this and almost missed another, so we’ve got some skin in this skinflint game.
In other G2E-related news, Light & Wonder is in full-on damage-control mode following the Dragon Train debacle. (One designer has already fallen on their sword.) CEO Matt Wilson‘s plan is to double-dare Aristocrat Leisure by bringing out “Dragon Train 2.0.” That sounds like asking for trouble but Light & Wonder is so heavily invested at this point that it must feel as though it’s obligated to keep beating its head against the Dragon Train wall.
Looking rather better is Station Casinos, which continues to ride the success of Durango Resort and looks to do so until its casino project for the North Fork Rancheria, near Fresno, comes on line. Station has reshuffled its series of new projects. Now Cactus Lane, its direct challenge to South Point, is next up, followed by Phase II of Durango. Then comes Inspirada. The Skye Canyon project has been postponed to somewhere off into the hazy yon. We’ll keep you posted.
Freudian Slip of the Show: Yesterday, another attendee asked when Fontainebleau was to be imploded. Wishful thinking! As for the skeleton of the venerable Tropicana Las Vegas, she came down in the wee hours of this morning. (We opted for much-needed sleep.) Bally’s Corp. undoubtedly spent more on the dog-and-pony implosion show than it and predecessor Penn Entertainment ever invested in the old gal—combined. The Trop deserved much better than the legacy of malign neglect it endured from Aztar Corp., Columbia Sussex (worst of the worst), Penn and Bally’s. May she rest in peace.