The slot machines that have for many years attracted the Baby Boomers are not as tempting to the millennials, a fact well noted by gaming industry experts throughout the country, and which is sparking some changes in Arizona.
This phenomenon was a hot topic at the recent Arizona Indian Gaming Association Expo. The state has 23 Indian casinos that took in about $2.5 billion in 2014.
Many people in their 20s and 30s who visit casinos hate smoke and hate slot machines. They prefer games where skill take a hand in the results.
Millennials have started to outnumber Baby Boomers and will account for about a third of the retail spending within the next decade. Targeting them is of immeasurable financial importance to tribal casinos.
Millennials are attached by an invisible umbilical cord to social media. They can ask and have answered questions in second whenever they want to consult their mobile devices. They seek constant interaction and transparency, which is not what they get from traditional slots.
This creates a problem since slots account for nearly two-thirds of the profits of most casinos. Slot machines do not provide a social experience, have no transparency and don’t require much skill. They can almost be played on autopilot. Some experts say that slots will have to change, and many doubt that they will survive the transition.
Jason “Wolf Rosenberg, a marketing expert at WhiteSand, a casino consultant, told Arizona Capitol Times, “Young people are looking for ‘Instagrammable’ moments. Sitting at a slot machine is not one of them.”
One approach is to make slots resemble video games. According to David Hielscher, assistant director of marketing at Casino Arizona and Talking Stick Resort, “Keep in mind, these people have had 100 percent of their life exposed to a digital platform. That means we have to completely reinvent a slot machine’s operations to look more like video games these young adults are used to playing.”
To an extent this is already happening. Former arcade characters such as Pac-Man have begun appearing. There is even a “beer pong game.” The sounds are similar to arcade games and the rewards include free spins and cash prizes.
Interestingly enough, table games, which seemed for a time to be giving way to slots, are making a comeback. The interactive nature of roulette, blackjack and craps are appealing to many younger players.
Score Gaming made it is mission to create more social games with interactive features where players encouraged other players to make particular types of bets. The result was Throw One Back and Three Card 21 N’ Done. According to Bobby Jones, vice president of sales and marketing at Score, “We have seen a turn of the tide, and a tremendous comeback.”
He is cautious about predicting complete success however, “Honestly, I don’t think we will get the lion’s share of millennials. But we will get a reasonable dent in gaming and attract some,” he says. ”The industry has changed dramatically, and the glory days are gone. Gaming is becoming a smaller portion of that piece of the pie. Younger folks would rather spend money having a good time with a group of friends with the flashing lights and music.”
Another approach is to rebrand casinos as entertainment centers that also offer gaming. In that scenario, a casino acts as sort of an impresario of fun, putting on pool parties, hiring DJ’s and offering cabanas for rent. Young people often respond to this approach by showing up in their thousands.
The Talking Stick resort in Arizona does the above, has a dance club and even hosts weekly trivia nights where teams compete.
Casino Del Sol, near Prescott, offers games like Cosmic Bingo, which is actually a form of bowling that includes plenty of alcohol. The casino’s chief marketing officer told the Times, “If a millennial wants to try some social gaming, play poker, grab a gourmet meal, maybe visit the spa and head out to a show or drinks and dancing, they can do that.” He added. “And, of course, while they are here, they can tell all of their friends about it through the many ‘selfie spots’ we have identified for them around the property.”
