"Caesars Entertainment is on a clear path towards the future of gaming and hospitality"

Frissora said technology was one of the biggest drivers of behavioural change in the United States, but noted: “Competition for consumers’ time has never been more intense.”

2018-02-07

United Kingdom

Reading time 1:49 min

The subject of Wednesday’s ICE Vox headliner "Don’t be the last dinosaur: Fresh thinking in gaming to win over new customer bases," set the ground as CEO Mark Frissora outline challenges and opportunities the industry will be facing in 2018, and how Caesars Entertainment will evolve to accompany these trends.

The evolution of the Caesars Entertainment brand was the subject of today’s ICE Vox headliner - "Don’t be the last dinosaur: Fresh thinking in gaming to win over new customer bases."
President and CEO Mark Frissora outlined the strategies which had helped the business to become the biggest entertainment brand in the USA.

Frissora said all businesses needed to ensure their product, workforce and culture was able to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world. Caesars Entertainment had a mission “to inspire grown ups to play” and Frissora said it was critical for businesses to create “gaming and non-gaming offerings” to adapt to continuing behavioural changes. Caesars Entertainment was now creating more non-gaming opportunities for customers in Las Vegas to address changing customer demands - non-gaming revenue was 55 per cent in 2016, up from 43 per cent.

He outlined three disruptive forces which were having an impact on the gaming industry:

• rapid technological advancements

• demographic shifts and changing consumer preference

• regulatory changes and increased competition

Frissora said technology was one of the biggest drivers of behavioural change in the United States with some adults spending up to 10 hours per day looking at a screen. But he warned: “Competition for consumers’ time has never been more intense.”

He said although there were differences in tastes between Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers, research showed that 54 per cent of the demographic were interested in playing casino games and would convert to new platforms if the content resonated.

Caesars Entertainment was in the process of testing and learning in key areas including legal sports betting, which has a potential market of $2.5-3bn in the United States, payment systems, eSports, social and online gaming. So far, the company has launched a sports betting app, digital payment systems programmes, held eSports events in partnership with Microsoft Xbox and piloted skills-based gambling machines with multiplayer features such as leaderboards.

Frissora said Caesars Entertainment was on a “clear path towards the future of gaming and hospitality” and would achieve this through:

• deepening engagement: leveraging mobile technology to drive more play

• enhancing core products: invigorating table and slot play with new features

• broadening the company’s offering: launching new platforms to attract broader demographics

• transforming the experience: testing new innovative and immersive experience