Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Technological touch-up for casinos on tap
Uses of mobile primed for big profile in 2021
Las Vegas Review-Journal
IF THERE’S TO BE A TURNAROUND 2021 AFTER A TUMULTUOUS 2020,
experts say vaccines and mobile technology will be to thank. Namely, online sports betting, touchless technology and mobile wallets. Some of those technologies existed before COVID-19. Then the pandemic hit and accelerated demand for them and other innovations in gaming.
Vaccine rollouts offer hope of an eventual economic recovery. But the pandemic isn’t yet over, and those in and around the industry expect the repercussions from 2020 to shape the story of 2021.
“The great thing about the gaming industry is it has always been innovative and adaptable and very agile in its handlings of what it needs to do to survive,” said Brendan Bussmann, partner at Global Market Advisors.
A touch of touchless
In some respects, the story of 2021 will be told through your phone.
A former Wynn executive summed up her view on 2021’s biggest gaming trends with one word three times.
“Technology, technology, technology,” said Debi Nutton, a retired executive vice president of casino operations for Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.
Casinos adapted to the pandemic with things like plexiglass shields between bar seats and entrance temperature checks. There’s more coming in 2021, she and other experts say.
Nutton expects mobile and touchless technologies to play an even larger role in 2021, as it’s “all about the ease of the guests.”
In general, Nutton expects fewer interactions and more digital touch points, things like mobile wallets and mobile wagering.
“So your room key is on your phone, and you check in from your phone, and you order your room service from your phone and you download the property app,” Nutton said.
It took a while for ticket-in, ticket-out slot machines to become an industry standard when they were invented in the early ’90s, Nutton said. She thinks cashless gaming at slot machines could follow a
It may be optimistic, but I’m sort of the optimistic pessimist (of a second-half recovery). When I look at this thing, I’m going, ‘I’m hoping for the best but realizing that the worst may happen.’
Brendan Bussmann Partner at Global Market Advisors
in April, he’ll be replaced by a woman, meaning that both of the state’s gaming regulatory bodies will be headed by women.” A complete whiff on this one. When Alamo ended his term, Vice Chairman John Moran was appointed to replace him, and on top of that, Gaming Control Board Chairwoman Sandra Morgan resigned and was replaced by Brin Gibson. So two men head the state’s gaming regulatory system.
So what’s in store for 2021? Here’s what’s in my crystal ball:
■ Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc., the Rhode Island-based company that acquired the Bally’s brand from Caesars Entertainment last year, will buy the Strip property with the Bally’s name on it. Caesars will continue to evaluate the sale of Planet Hollywood, as predicted in 2019.
■ Nevada regulators will be successful in their Nevada Supreme Court appeal of Steve Wynn’s lawsuit suggesting that the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission no longer have jurisdiction over him because he is no longer affiliated with or invested in Wynn Resorts Ltd.
The attorney general’s office will then move to discipline Wynn through Regulation 5 for his failure to exercise discretion to prevent incidents that might reflect on the repute of Nevada and act as a detriment to the development of the gaming industry.
■ The pent-up demand for vis
its to Las Vegas will manifest itself in the summer months, but resort visitation and gaming revenue still won’t reach 2019 levels. The number of flights into McCarran International Airport will increase, but not to the level they reached in 2019, with international flights still lagging behind.
■ Resorts World Las Vegas and Virgin Hotels Las Vegas will open by the third quarter, and both will be big hits with tourists.
■ A resort company will try to replicate Circa’s Stadium Swim concept of providing a big screen to watch sports and movies but will fail.
■ The Boring Co. will begin work on its Vegas Loop underground transit project but will hit snags that will
slow the project’s momentum.
■ The NBA will announce that it is awarding an expansion franchise to Las Vegas to begin play in the 2023-24 season. Tourism leaders are enthused that it will draw visitors the same way the Vegas Golden Knights did in 2018-19.
■ The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority will sell the 10 acres of Strip-front property that was a part of the Riviera transaction, and a hotel developer will design a casino resort there.
Bring on 2021.