The drivers for the casino gaming industry – employment, income and gas prices – are in a favorable position. That said, the 5% growth for YTD thru December 2015 might be somewhat unrealistic to achieve in 2016. We are revising our 2016 forecast range to downgraded slightly from our original +2% to +4% to growth of +1% to +3%.
Recent News:
New Jersey: While headlines decried the losses comparing 2015 versus a full 2014, the December 2015 vs. December 2014 data were up for slots by +3%. Table win declined by -11%. That may be due more to lower holds versus lower volume. This is why we do not view AC results (nor NV) with tables, as in our note below.
Plainridge Park Casino (MA), which opened in June 2015, generated $11M in December 2015, while RI and CT declined.
For YTD 2015 vs. 2014, we see most areas of the country improving or with slower declines in areas that had been previously declining faster. Please remember, too, that some of the advancing states – AR, FL, MD, OH, LA – all added more facilities in 2014. MA opened its racino in June 2015.
Sources for all data are State Gaming reports and JSA research Jay Sarno has 20+ years of experience in the Hospitality and Gaming Industry. Jay consults on casino marketing segmentation programs, software product development and technology solutions evaluations, selections and implementations. Jay has implemented over 20 data warehouse systems and currently also teaches courses in Hospitality Management for Richard Stockton College of NJ. Jay can be reached at JSA2002@comcast.net and welcomes your comments and questions.
*Note: JSA calculates monthly trends in adjusted total win for all states. We use adjusted total win for a variety of reasons, but mostly to provide a consistent basis. Many states report combined slot and table revenue and our reporting reflects the same. Some states separate slot and table win and where this occurs we report the combined total. The exceptions to the separate slot and table win are NJ and NV, where table revenue is a large component of total win and often generates very volatile results. So, for better picture of the overall market for NJ and NV results, slot revenue is reported.
For this G&L report, we use the published figure by the agency and we do not factor out new properties opening or properties closing. For our clients or those in need specialty research, we can provide “same store” breakdowns, where available. That is to say, by excluding new outlets or outlets that have since closed, comparisons are on equal footing making data more directly comparable.
We hope you find the information useful. If you have any questions or needs in regards to this information, do not hesitate to contact us.