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Global Gaming Business Magazine GGB May 2023 •Vol. 22 •No. 5 •$10 MALTA’S ONLINE ADVANTAGE INDUSTRY OUTLOOK POWER OF DATA INDIAN GAMING 2023 Staffing Challenge Casinos struggle to draw quality team members Coming of Cashless Cashless gaming moves forward Association of Gaming Equipment ManufacturersVol. 22 • No. 5 COLUMNS CONTENTS 10 Sports Betting and Advertising 12 On the Rise 4 The Agenda 6 By the Numbers 8 5 Questions 13 AGEM 28 Emerging Leaders 38 Frankly Speaking 44 New Game Review 48 Cutting Edge 50 Goods & Services 53 People 54 Casino Communications DEPARTMENTS Global Gaming Business Magazine COVER STORY may FEATURES 14 Toward Cashless Gaming While the existence of options to offer cashless casino wagering spreads across the U.S., the market still demands both cash and non-cash options. 24 The Great Recruitment In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, casinos still facing staffing shortages begin to plug their own properties as the employers of choice to prospective team members. 30 White Label in Malta Malta’s abundance of B2C “white label” agreements makes it one of the strongest worldwide online gaming jurisdictions. Today’s Tables Innovation has changed the look and the fortunes of the casino table-game pit. From progressives, side bets and operating systems to new games that draw on the most popular games in the industry, the pit is back in a growth mode. 34 State of the Industry The Innovation Group outlines the trends shaping the industry today and what to expect in the months and years to come. 40 All in the Data Technological innovations are allowing casinos to collect and analyze the sea of data that is available to the industry’s operators and marketers. 52 Indian Gaming 2023 I ssues crucial to the Native American gaming sector were discussed at the Indian Gaming Association’s Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention 2023. MAY 2023 www.ggbmagazine.com 34 Vol. 22 • No. 5 • MAY 2023 Roger Gros, Publisher | rgros@ggbmagazine.com twitter: @GlobalGamingBiz Frank Legato, Editor |flegato@ggbmagazine.com twitter: @FranklySpeakn Jess Marquez, Managing Editor jmarquez@ggbmagazine.com Monica Cooley, Art Director mcooley@ggbmagazine.com Terri Brady, Sales & Marketing Director tbrady@ggbmagazine.com Becky Kingman-Gros, Chief Operating Officer bkingros@ggbmagazine.com Lisa Johnson, Communications Advisor lisa@lisajohnsoncommunications.com twitter: @LisaJohnsonPR Columnists Cait DeBaun |Frank Fantini Contributing Editors Dave Bontempo twitter: @bontempomedia John Brennan | Alan Campbell | Jack Goodin Marjorie Preston | Bill Sokolic twitter: @downbeachfilm Michael Soll _______________ • • • • • • • • • • • • • Official Publication W ho would have ever thought that sports betting would not be the boon that everyone thought it was going to be? The numbers weren’t off, just beneficiaries. Sports betting seems to have left the land-based casinos behind, except for MGM, which made the wise choice of partnering with Entain early on, solv- ing its technology questions immediately. And that seems to be a large part of the problem. There were several companies that tried to invent technology, and it just didn’t work. Bally’s scrapped Betworks last month, and build-from- scratch systems at several companies just haven’t worked. Caesars’ purchase of William Hill has taken a while to evolve, but is showing signs of life now. Given MGM’s experience with Entain, it seems partnerships make more sense. Still, they’ve all taken a back seat to the DFS giants, FanDuel and DraftKings, which at least developed systems that worked during those heady DFS days. When DFS was effectively shut down in most states, and licenses were required, they were ready to go with the systems and the compliance needed to hit the ground running. And then when the first state with full-blown sports betting (and all other betting) got most of it right, subsequent states didn’t catch on. I don’t want to say they got it wrong, but when a state is looking for the most revenue from sports betting it doesn’t always follow that higher taxes equal more revenue, especially from a business with narrow margins to start with. Now, there are some states that nailed it. Indiana, Colorado, Arizona—with its particular Indian gaming segment of the market thrown in. Remember, there’s really only small dollars to be made in sports betting given the small margins. So companies with a late start or uncertain strategy are going to have a difficult time competing. And states that really don’t understand how to make the most money are going to be disappointed. But one of the correct things New Jersey did— prior to the legalization of sports betting—was the approval of online gaming. Only a few states fol- lowed. In Pennsylvania, the state basically black- mailed potential sports betting companies by requir- ing that they obtain a sports betting license before they receive an online gaming license—all at hefty fees, of course. But Michigan hit a home run when they not only included online gaming in the legalization bill, but also incorporated all the various gaming players in the state—the lottery, commercial casi- nos in Detroit and tribal casinos across the state— with a fair tax rate, and serious but rational regula- tions and a chance to make real money both for the companies/tribes and the state. Michigan quickly became the second most successful interac- tive gaming state in the nation. But since then, there has been a strange reluc- tance for other states to follow suit, despite the positive examples. Perhaps it’s the bad example of advertising emanating from the sports betting circles. The “risk-free” and “free bets” enticements are danger- ous not just to problem gamblers but also to pub- lic perception of betting in general. It can be seen as predatory, particularly by legislators who are being asked to vote on online gaming. While the American Gaming Association has set up a series of ethical advertising standards that make sense and are very reasonable, competition is fierce. There are more than 30 companies involved in U.S. sports betting, and most of them have a miniscule market share. The temptation of catch- ing lightning in a bottle is often too great and a company’s future may rest on it, so in a way it’s understandable. But we have to be even more diligent and focused. I remember when I went to my first soc- cer game in the U.K., and discovered to my sur- prise that there was a sportsbook underneath the stands. Now I don’t know why I was surprised. I knew betting on sports was rampant in the U.K., and many of the clubs had logos of sportsbooks on their jerseys. Now, the sportsbooks being built around the stadiums and the arenas in this country are a far cry from the small book that was under the stands in the U.K., but what does that say about our enthusiasm for betting? Now that the U.S. has quickly followed that lead, I feel the same way. Does it somehow taint the contest and cast doubt on its integrity, especial- ly when it comes to amateur sports? Maybe we should pause the links between teams, leagues and institutions to ensure every relationship conforms with the AGA policies. Sports Betting Stumbles BY ROGER GROS, PUBLISHER Global Gaming Business MAY 2023 GGB THEAGENDA IT’S YOUR BRAND. GO BIG. Our agency brings unparalleled gaming experience to the table, with a passion for creating breakthrough brands that get real results . GOODGIANT.COM 6 Global Gaming Business MAY 2023 A fter a long delay due to the pandemic, the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers finally released an update on the impact suppliers have on the industry and society. As you might imagine, the years 2020 and 2021 were difficult, bound- ing back substantially in 2021. The sector demonstrated its ability to cover lost ground in 2021 by increasing overall eco- nomic activity with double-digit gains. While the results for 2022 have yet to be reported by key suppliers within the indus- try, the expectation is that the recovery trend continued in 2022. • Economic Output: The global gam- ing supplier industry directly generated ap- proximately $17 billion in economic output during 2021. When the ripple ef- fects of those impacts are considered, total output reached over $44 billion. • Value Added: Limiting the eco- nomic impact to the amount of value added, the total impacts (including indirect BYTHENUMBERS A nyone who has worked in the gaming industry for five minutes understands the diversity of the workforce, and it’s only getting more diverse. Last month, the American Gaming Association issued a report on just how diverse, and the results were impressive. The findings of this in-depth examination show that the gam- ing industry is more diverse than national and hospitality industry benchmarks, and boasts a diverse executive pipeline, while identify- ing opportunities on gender representation. • More than six in 10 (61 percent) of gaming industry employ- ees are minorities, compared to 52 percent of the broader hospital- ity industry and 42 percent of the total U.S. workforce. • 23 percent of gaming employees are Hispanic and 19 percent are Black—both higher than the national workforce and in line with the hospitality industry. • 60 percent of operator employees are minorities, up nearly 20 percent from 2011 and higher than the hospitality sector and na- tional workforces overall. • 45 percent of gaming manufacturer employees are minorities, compared to 38 percent of the broader electronic manufacturing workforce. and induced) equated to $24 billion in 2021, an in- crease of 16.8 percent from the prior year. • Wages and Salaries: Employers paid nearly $8 billion in direct wages to employees, while total earn- ings throughout the economy reached nearly $17 bil- lion in 2021 (up 14.7 percent). • Employment: Direct jobs in the industry reached nearly 68,000, and the multiplier effect resulted in nearly 192,000 positions around the globe in 2021 (up 4.2 percent). The study was conducted by Applied Analysis of Las Vegas. Summary of Findings: Economic Impacts in 2021PlayAGS.com ©2023 PlayAGS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All ® notices signify marks regis- tered in the United States. All ™ and ℠ notices signify unregistered trademarks. PlayAGS.com ©2023 PlayAGS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All ® notices signify marks registered in the United States. All ™ and ℠ notices signify unregistered trademarks. From our PAX S® shuffler, to exciting titles like 3 Card Catch ™ available on our STAX Progressive ™ , AGS has your pit covered. ® ™ ™8 Global Gaming Business MAY 2023 CALENDAR Jeff Jordan J eff Jordan has had a multi-faceted career that has touched just about every aspect of the gaming industry. He started by managing slots for a number of high-profile properties before moving on to executive-level management for suppliers such as IGT, Bluberi and GameCo. Now, Jordan has launched SlotCycle, a revolu- tionary new platform for buying and selling used slots and casino equipment. Jordan spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros from his office in Las Vegas in March. GGB: How did you come up with the idea for SlotCycle, and how does it work? Jordan: I came up with it when I was working on a project. I was looking at a Greenfield casino, and a gentleman asked me what I would do, and I said, “I’d buy used slots given the low yields in the mar- ket.” So he wanted the budget, and we had to go out and look for used slots to develop that budget. It re- quired calling a lot of people and really doing an investigative kind of buying. So I came up with this idea of having a marketplace where everybody could come as a community to buy and sell gaming equipment and make it a lot easier and more transparent about what’s available in the marketplace. You’ve referred to it as the eBay of slot machines and gaming equipment. Is that accurate? Yes, a bit, but we also developed a physical service. As we went out to the marketplace explaining what we had built with our software, we had lots of clients who said they loved the vision, but they’d like to see us step into their shoes as a seller on the platform. So we developed what we call White Glove Service, where we take in equipment on their behalf and turn around and sell it on the platform for them. So not only do we offer the platform, but we’re also eating our own cooking, so to speak, by selling on the platform. So who are your customers now? Obviously there’s a lot of turnover in the slot machine business, with a lot of new machines coming out. What do they do with the old machines? We’re fortunate that we have in excess of about 50 customers so far that have engaged us in various ways. Some of our bigger customers that were very early and instrumental in our development are here in Las Vegas casinos, such as Penn Entertainment and Maverick Gaming. We also have a tribal customer in Cache Creek in California. So we’re fortunate to have some early customers that were very instrumental in getting us off the ground and into operations. What other services do you offer to your clients? Typically in an engagement, we’ll pay for the transportation of the slot machines from a casino to our facility. Once they get to our facility, we’ll do some assessments of the inventory to see how complete or incomplete it is. Then we’ll work to figure out the best way to monetize that particular asset, whether that’s to sell its parts, or sell it as a whole game, and by the time we actually sell the game or the part, we’ve actually tested and certified that the equipment is working up to factory standards. What are some of the accomplishments so far? Obviously, turning over the slot machines and getting more money for the clients, that’s a big accomplishment. We’re about 20 months into operating, and we’re now operating in a 35,000-square-foot facility. So our team has a large footprint that we can use to leverage for different services and opportunities to service our clients. We’ve also launched our platform so that it’s actually functioning. We’ve got other sellers on the platform buying, and we’ve seen digital transactions where buyers and sellers are connecting to purchase things. We had one casino buy used casino furniture from another casino here recently on the platform. So we’re seeing dif- ferent use cases develop as we grow. We also offer a feature we call the SlotCycle Wallet, and that’s where sell- ers of equipment can keep their money to buy other equipment on the platform and put it to use. “TheyIt” 5QUESTIONS 1 2 3 4 5 May 9-11: SBC Summit North America, Meadowlands Exposition Center, East Rutherford, New Jersey. Produced by SBC. For more information, visit SBCEvents.com. May 15-17: Casino Marketing Boot Camp, General Managers Edition, Rolling Hills Casino Resort, Corning, California. Produced by J Carcamo & Associates. For more information, visit CasinoMarketingBootCamp.com. May 23-25: CasinoBeats Summit (CBS), InterContinental in St Julian’s, Malta. Produced by SBC. For more information, visit SBCEvents.com. May 23-25: Gambling & Risk Taking Conference, Park MGM, Las Vegas. Produced by UNLV’s International Gaming Institute. For more information, visit unlv.edu/igi/conference. May 25-27: Gambling Brasil, Frei Caneca Convention Center, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Produced by Afiliados Brasil. For more information, visit GamblingBrasil.com. June 13-15: Canadian Gaming Summit, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Produced by the Canadian Gaming Association and SBC. For more information, visit canadiangamingsummit.com. June 20-23: International Gaming Summit, Culloden Estate and Spa, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Produced by the International Association of Gaming Advisors. For more information, visit TheIAGA.org. July 18-19: Casino Marketing & Technology Conference 2023, Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, Reno, Nevada. Produced by Casino Marketing and Technology Conference. For more information, visit casinomarketingtech.com. August 8-10: OIGA Conference & Tradeshow, Cox Business Convention Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Pro- duced by the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association. For more information, visit oiga.org/tradeshow. September 19-21: SBC Summit Barcelona, Fira Barcelona Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain. Produced by SBC. For more information, visit SBCEvents.com.Next >