Gaming execs: Market is oversaturated
By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun
Saturation has arrived in the gaming industry and except for a few outposts — namely the state of Texas — there aren’t many places in the United States where a player can’t drive three hours or less to get to a casino, a panel of gaming industry executives concluded in a wide-ranging panel on industry issues.
“New England is saturated,” said Penn National Gaming President Tim Wilmott. “The market is crowded in Ohio. It’s a little underserved in Florida.”
So what does that mean for companies in the business? Panelists said it means growth will occur by acquisition and mergers and possibly diversification into the online world.
Even international markets are getting crowded, with Southeast Asia still the best option for new venues. Wilmott said Japan and South Korea have casinos in their future.
Talk about the obvious.
The absolute worst thing that ever happened to gaming in this country was Indian gaming. Native American casinos took all the cache out of gaming. When it’s everywhere, you could care less about it.
Who says Texas is backwards? We need more gambling like a hole in our heads. Crime, misery, broken families follows the gambling industry. And remember it ain’t gambling folks, you will most likely lose in the short run and definitely lose in the long run.
Is it possible that Americans, especially in Texas, also have less disposable cash laying around?
A report like this will mean bonuses for managment and layoffs for line-level employees as a means of solving the problem. Of course, this will fail, resulting in bankruptcy by the big gaming companies (the ones with obscene debt, bloated corporate management structure and overpaid executive “teams”).
So our plan is to try in attract high rollers from all over the country and world that have gaming in their back yard?
Seems like we should quit trying to hit a home run and concentrate on one of the most affluent and successful areas in the world. The Bay area is two and a half hours away Sacramento and El Dorado Hills are expanding.
We should team up with every town and business East of Red Hawk. Hard to believe how the money Cal Trans kicked end because of the Echo Summit construction was wasted.
Might want to move the visitors center to the right side of town and put it on the right side of the highway. Think airport, parking, large bathrooms, space to stretch. Install in a dog walk like the one at Fresh Pond.
Gaming as the economic engine driving Nevada, and Lake Tahoe is quickly becoming a thing of the past. 48 states have had some form of legalized gaming for a few years now.
And gaming execs are just now coming to the realization that gaming has hit a saturation point? Huh.