Beyond Las Vegas, casinos in Maryland, Pennsylvania and other states are increasingly booking A-list talent in hopes of turning turn concertgoers and millennials into casino players. David Fiorenza, who teaches entertainment industry economics at Villanova University School of Business, said, “Today, the musical acts playing at casinos are established names that we’ve known for years. Live music is another way to keep people at the casinos.” Fiorenza said the casinos hope customers coming for the show will stay and spend money at the restaurants, shops and on the gaming floor.
At the 3,000-seat concert hall at the $1.4 billion MGM National Harbor, which opened near Washington D.C. in December, the star-studded lineup includes Bruno Mars, Lionel Richie, Jim Gaffigan, Cher, Earth, Wind & Fire, Sting, Kings of Leon and, Billy Crystal with more to come.
Sarah Moore, executive director of brand marketing and retail for MGM National Harbor, said, “One of the main ideas behind the Theater is to bring large-scale arena-type acts to a small, intimate setting. We focused on bringing something to the market that wasn’t here.”
In its first three weeks of operation, MGM National Harbor’s casino generated $41.9 million in revenue from slot machines and table, according to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.
Fiorenza said the recent trend of casinos booking major stars has resulted in “a substitution effect” for other clubs and theaters. “It takes away business from other venues in the area that were doing bookings of some of these musical groups. There’s only so much that can go around in terms of the number of venues, but the strong venues will survive.”
At the nearby Horseshoe Casino, Director of Marketing Tom Yorke said the approach to booking live acts will not change, just because of MGM National Harbor’s entry into the market. He said Horseshoe regularly surveys customers to determine the type of acts they want.
At Maryland Live Casino, Senior Vice President of Marketing Mario Maesano said their music venue accommodates “a completely different market and customer base, so we are targeting completely different genres of music.”
Casinos also hope by presenting the most popular acts they’ll bring in millennials, age 20-30, who otherwise never would step foot inside a casino. For example, at Treasure Island in Welch, Minnesota, spokeswoman Cindy Taub said, “We started looking at what we were doing with our music, who we were bringing in. We’re traditionally known for classic rock and country but you can only bring the same people back around so many times.” Iggy Azalea, Rachel Platten and Andy Grammer recently have performed at Treasure Island.
Besides A-list performers, studies show millennials are interested in games of skill compared to games of chance. As a result, new games are being introduced that blend chance with elements of physical or mental proficiency. Most state gaming laws still require that payout percentages be the same across the board. However, both New Jersey and Nevada recently issued regulatory frameworks for skill-based games, and late last year the first betting machines debuted at Harrah’s Casino in Atlantic City.
Still, not all casino officials agree that millennials hold the golden key. Penn National Chief Executive Officer Tom Wilmott said, “I’m of the belief that focusing in on millennials is not going to produce good economic results.”
Nonetheless, one of the largest casinos in the portfolio of Wilmott’s company, M Resort in Las Vegas, announced a spring festival that is clearly aimed at millennials. Rock Into Spring is a three-day rock n’ roll music festival taking place April 28 – 30, 2017 at M Resort’s pool.
Howard Weiss, M Resort Vice President of Entertainment, Daylife and Nightlife, commented, “The Rock Into Spring Festival is a great example of the new level of entertainment that M Resort plans to bring to our stunning property.”
The festival is hosted by Cranked Up Live, Yourlisten.com, The Rocking Comedy Show and Radio Vegas Rocks and will feature live performances from over 18 bands, including: Sick Puppies, Trapt, DJ Lethal from Limp Bizkit, Gemini Syndrome, Eve To Adam, Bobaflex, Another Lost Year, Shallow Side, Blacklite District, Cage9, VYCES, Behind the Fallen, Artifas, Lola Black, the Broken Thumbs, QUOR, Silent Theory and more.
If you are over 40 and recognize more than three of those acts, you’re either a music aficionado or wayward child.
