I was able to connect with Lance Young thru his General Manager, Sean Sullivan. They are part of the executive management team at Meadows Casino in Pennsylvania.
Amenities include a 350,000-square-foot casino, food court, cafe restaurant, premier steakhouse with view of the race track, covered grandstand, simulcast viewing area, VIP boxes, and a 24 lane state-of-the-art bowling center. The Meadows features over 3,300 slot machines, 15 poker tables and 78 table games.
Lance
began his current position with The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in January,
2010 as the Director of Table Games where he introduced table games to the
property. Lance began his employment with Cannery Resorts in April, 2002 and
has held the positions of Table Games Manager and Shift Manager for Rampart Casino and Cannery Casino.
Lance’s
gaming career before Cannery resorts included employment with The Resort at
Summerlin, Gaughan Gaming and Station Casinos.
He has opened four casinos in the local Las Vegas market; The
Orleans, Sunset Station, the Resort at Summerlin (Rampart Casino) and the
Cannery.
Due to a scheduling conflict, Lance was not able to participate in the speaker panel presentation at the G2E. He was able to answer a series of pertinent questions.
1).What is the marketing radius of a regional casino?
The radius is different for each market and ranges from a couple of miles to over 60 miles. The closest competition and the population density are the main determining factors.
2).Are the profit margins the same? Regional vs. Destination
The jurisdictions greatly vary. Primarily, the tax structure and the competition of the markets create pressure on the margins. Table Games is labor intensive making increases in tax rates effect the profit margin more substantially. The increased competition in many markets is leading to casinos increasing reinvestment to players which also decreases the margins.
3). Does the tax structure influence your floor design?
The tax structure has a slight impact on the game mix, but ultimately the customer preference is the final game decisions. We do look for added side wagers and progressives to increase play and hold percentage in jurisdictions were competition and tax rates are higher.
4). What is the average daily spend at a destination casino?
The spend is very different for every casino based on the location and demographic.
5). What games are more popular to a locals market?
Overall, local markets tend to be more aware of the hold percentage of the game types and thus the games of blackjack and craps are the most popular with poker derivatives gaining popularity.
6). Do you rely more on partnerships in a regional or destination market?
If you mean junkets and independent reps, regional casinos do use them, but not to the extent of the destination casinos. It is more difficult to get customers form long distances to regional casinos and thus less effective and profitable. We also have partnerships with local business and organizations to help build up the entire community where our casinos are located.
7). Online Gaming. Is it better suited for a regional or destination casino?
This is difficult to answer based on the uncertainty of each jurisdiction. I believe the destination casinos with larger databases could potentially benefit more, but with the current jurisdictions to approve Online gaming, the local casinos have a steady stream of potential customers as only people within the jurisdiction can participate. It will be an added benefit for people coming to destination casinos, but difficult for them to get people to travel just to play online.
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