“The time is now,” says Mark Frissora, CEO of New Caesars Entertainment Corporation, on the casino industry’s lack of innovation in attracting young gamblers.
He spoke at the recent CEO roundtable panel at the annual casino trade show, Global Gaming Expo or G2E in Las Vegas.
He expressed his idea that traditional casinos still have much room to grow and improve especially when it comes to innovating games that appeal to millennials.
Frissora said (Know his background at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Frissora) certain areas of the country is already oversaturated with traditional casinos and games and he doubts if young, would-be gamblers would take the time to sit down at traditional slot machines when they get older.
"These games need to change," he said. “Resort operators are missing out on an untapped customer market. We need to be open to a new segment of the population. There is a huge opportunity to create a new customer segment.”
He used his kids, whose ages range from 29 to 35 years old, as an example. “I know my kids…they generally don't even shop in physical stores, doing most of what they do online.”
Because of this, Caesars will be testing a new type of casino, a sort of “casino within a casino” very soon. They will convert a part of their casino in the Las Vegas Strip and install walls and interiors which would regularly be moved to change the feel of the space.
The purpose is to create an area that would potentially attract young gamblers aged 18 to 35 years old.
Caesars will also be adding social games features on traditional slot machines such as leaderboards which would track high-point players. But other than this, Frissora refused to reveal any more details.
Other CEO panelists who attended however, do not agree with Frissora. "There's still a lot of people who like playing traditional games," Gavin Isaacs of Scientific Games, said.