What the hey? This article is giving us salary figures for 2001. Could that be a misprint? Actually, no. In honor of the 15th Anniversary of Gaming & Leisure, I thought we would take a step back in time and look at some different things that were going on, as well as showing the rough salary ranges, and different properties, in the casino industry.
For you sports fans out there, here were the matchups for the major U.S. events in 2001:
- The World Series saw the Arizona Diamondbacks defeat the New York Yankees.
- The Super Bowl had the Baltimore Ravens defeating another New York team, the NY Giants.
- The NBA Finals saw the Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Philadelphia 76ers four games to one, and Shaquille O’Neal was named the playoff’s Most Valuable Player.
Here are some other fairly interesting U.S. facts from 2001:
- Average Cost of New House: $136,150
- Average Median Income: $42,350
- Average Monthly Rent: $715
- Cost of a gallon of Gas: $1.46
- US Postage Stamp: 34 cents
- Loaf of Bread: $1.82
- California suffered more rolling blackouts, and saw electricity rate hikes of up to 46%.
- A series of Anthrax attacks spread fear amongst the American public, and several people were infected by handling tainted letters.
- Legendary racing driver Dale Earnhardt, who had won a record seven NASCAR championships, died in a last-lap crash during the Daytona 500.
- Timothy McVeigh was executed for the Oklahoma City Bombing.
And the worst U.S. headline to remember in many decades: simply known as 9/11, on September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers simultaneously took control of four U.S. domestic commercial airliners. The hijackers crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City; one into each of the Twin Towers. And, within two hours both collapsed. The hijackers crashed the third aircraft into the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters, the Pentagon, in Arlington County, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed into a rural field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania following heroic passenger resistance. 2,996 people were killed initially, and more than 6,000 others were injured.
Due to the horrific 9/11 terrorist acts, the U.S. unemployment rate rose sharply in October as employers cut hundreds of thousands of jobs – the most in 21 years – in response to a major slowdown in the world’s largest economy.
The data reflects the impact of the terror attacks on an already weak U.S. economy. Job cuts were mounting even before September’s terror attacks, but a drop in demand in the wake of those attacks made the situation worse and employers, particularly in the travel and hospitality industries, accelerated the pace of layoffs.
U.S. Unemployment
Oct 2001 5.4%
May 2016 4.7%
NV Unemployment
Oct 2001 5.9%
April 2016 6.1%
U.S. Population
July 2001 284.97 Million
May 2016 322.26 Million
According to Casino City’s Gaming Business Directory, nationwide in 2001 there were 437 casinos with at least 300 slot machines, and as a comparison, in the Winter 2016 edition there are 650 casinos. A total of 868 Casinos were open in 2001 that had at least one slot machine, compared with 1,364 in 2016.
These include: commercial casinos, land-based, riverboat, dockside, racetrack casinos (Racinos), Native American properties, as well as small bars and stores with slot machines.
As you view the attached Salary Chart, here is our breakdown for the properties discussed:
- Small Casino: 300-999 Machines
- Mid-sized Casino: 1,000-1,999 Machines
- Large Casino: 2,000-2,999 Machines
- Mega Casinos: More than 3,000 Machines
Utilizing this chart on Page 26, in 2001 we find there are 437 total casinos in these categories, and for 2016 (in parenthesis) there are a total of (650). Also in 2001 there were 220 small casinos compared to (347); 138 midsized casinos to (197); 56 large casinos to (82); and 23 mega casinos compared to (24).
2001 Mega Casinos
Two of the top five mega properties in the United States, numbers one and four, are Native American owned, while the other three are publicly traded companies:
- Foxwoods Resort & Casino, Connecticut: 5,863 machines, 370 table games.
- Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Atlantic City: 4,826 machines, 143 table games.
- Bally’s Atlantic City: 4,320 machines, 112 table games.
- Soaring Eagle Casino Resort, Mount Pleasant, MI: 4,305 machines, 95 table games.
- Bally’s and Paris, Las Vegas, NV: 3,925 machines, 184 table games.
2016 Mega Casinos
As a comparison let’s look at the largest five mega casinos of 2016, where four of the five are Native American owned:
- WinStar World Casino, Oklahoma: 7,487 machines, 135 table games.
- Mohegan Sun Casino, Connecticut: 5,518 machines, 288 table games.
- Empire City at Yonkers Raceway, New York: 5,300 machines, 0 table games.
- Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, FL: 5,000 machines, 121 table games.
- Foxwoods Resort & Casino, Connecticut: 4,800 machines, 256 Table games.
As you view the Salary Chart, please remember that it is a broad-brushed gauge, and that sometimes the Manager level title could be interchangeable with a Director or Vice President level title, depending on the particular organizational chart and/or size of property. 2008 was the first year that we compiled a formal survey for G&L. The attached 2001 figures were gathered from data we had during that timeframe, along with salary ranges that our clients were paying at the time, coupled with our industry
acumen. Hope you enjoy the retrospective.
A big CONGRATULATIONS to Jeannie and her team for 15 years of great information and growth, and I am looking forward to the next 15 years. Also, a big THANK YOU goes to them for allowing me to be a contributor for 10+ years, and also to you the reader for ultimately making that possible. If you have any questions or comments please reach out, and if you’d like to compare today’s survey with the 2016 Salary Survey, then look for us in the next issue of G&L!
Marc Weiswasser is a Managing Member of CasinoRecruiter.com, an Executive Recruiting firm for the gaming & hospitality industries. He can be reached at 702-798-0180, Marc@CasinoRecruiter.com or
www.CasinoRecruiter.com.