THE BACK PAGE: Where we might go from here
by Charles Anderer
September 26, 2012
Putting together
this 25th anniversary issue of Casino Journal has been a fun task, even if it
was somewhat pre-tinged with regret. How to do justice to the topic, after all?
There are so many touchstones and topics from the last quarter century that
merit a spotlight.
We invited a number of
people who have led, and continue to lead this industry to help out. And help
they did. I am personally enormously thankful
to each of them; Frank Fahrenkopf, Dick Haddrill, Charles Lombardo,
James Maida, James Murren, Victor Rocha, and Phil Satre. Any healthy perspective on the past, present
and future must start with those who have been in determinative positions over
an extended period of time. If you are reading this before you have read their
columns, big mistake. Stop. Go back to page 44, I’ll still be here.
Every industry is
simple and complicated in its own way. Gambling as a product is ancient; as a
highly regulated form of globally distributed mass entertainment relatively
new. Time is making it increasingly apparent that each of our columnists, and
many of you, our readers, have had a front-row seat for the birth and growth of
an industry that, starting from rather humble beginnings, has carved out a
permanent place in the economic and
personal lives of many millions of people around the planet. There have been
duller places to be this last quarter century.
If there is one issue
that our guest columnists focus on consistently, it’s technology, particularly
as it relates to the future. My own spin on this is that gaming is a unique
form of entertainment that will never be a typical consumer good, but it
increasingly competes directly in that realm. Just one illustration of the depth
of change that the industry confronts; when I started covering gaming 17 years
ago, the popularity of the industry was routinely shown by how it compared with
the amounts of money people spent attending movie theaters or sports events.
Video gaming, as it was called at the time, was somewhere on the radar as a
faint blip. One big and undeniable change is that gaming on personal electronic
devices of the non-gambling sort, but with elements of reward if not risk, has
not only become a typical consumer good, but the fastest growing form of
entertainment on the planet, supported by gains in quality and access that are
compounding exponentially every year.
That’s one reason why
the industry is right to focus on building a legal and regulated Internet
gaming segment in the U.S. It’s essential, not only for the near-term prospects
of individual operators and suppliers, but for the very relevance of the
regulated gaming product going forward. There’s another area of technology
where the industry must continue to progress, and that’s on the gaming floor
itself. There is a hunger among operators for the kind of excitement that
networked gaming can deliver, particularly in the area of floor-wide events.
The decade-old conversation about networked gaming is finally getting somewhere
because we can see the benefits to the player.
The continued commitment of suppliers to creating a true plug-and-play
environment and, just as important, the willingness of operators to re-invest
in their floors, will be another essential factor in the extent to which the
industry thrives (or not).
Technological
challenges and opportunities are a fun topic compared with the biggest changes
that the industry will have to deal with at some point in the next 25 years.
The economic and demographic trends that are in view appear to present a major
challenge for the gaming industry, particularly for those operators who depend
on older players disproportionately. Over time, the most comfortable generation
of retirees ever will be replaced by a much more economically insecure group.
Folks who had their kids earlier in life, paid off their homes, sent the young
ones to college without borrowing much or any money, have a defined benefit
pension in addition to stable Social Security payments, and have enjoyed
predictable levels of support for their health care, will give way to a new
generation of retirees (should they be able to afford retirement) that have a
whole different set of concerns.
Lastly,
there’s the economy itself, which appears to be in a steady state of little to
no growth and will almost surely be buffeted by the global competition for oil,
water and “what’s left” over the next quarter century. Who knows…Based on the
record of success charted by all those who have had the opportunity to work at
this magazine the last 25 years, not to mention the enduring appeal of the
gaming product itself, don’t be surprised if the industry again outperforms
expectations.
Charles Anderer
is executive editor of BNP Media Gaming Group and also oversees content development, sales and marketing for the company’s trade shows and conferences, which include Bingo World, Southern Gaming Summit, Gaming Technology Summit, New York Gaming Summit and Casino Marketing. He can be contacted at andererc@bnpmedia.com.
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