Analysis: How casinos are using on-property apps to get more customers gambling

Words by Julian Rogers

It’s a well-documented fact that casino floors, for the most part, continue to struggle to appeal to the younger visitor. Indeed, with less than 50% of revenues from casinos lining Las Vegas’ famous Strip now generated from gaming activities, bosses are exploring new ways of engaging with this crowd. It’s why some properties are installing skill-based slot machines, multiplayer tabletop touchscreen games and even cordoning off areas for esports setups. The loosely defined segment of millennials generally aren’t drawn to table games and slots like the previous generation, often preferring instead to party when descending on hedonistic destinations like Sin City. But they do like to play games. So mobile is a critical means of directly engaging with the younger generation, whether they are lounging beside the pool, drinking in the bar or resting in their hotel rooms.

For example, IGT’s PlaySpot – previously known as OnPremise – allows land-based casino visitors to play real-money table games and slots, and place sports bets via handheld devices. “A person out by the pool will reach for their phone the moment they get bored, rather than get up, go inside and play roulette, which is a lot of effort,” says IGT’s VP of mobile, Charles Cohen. “Now we can bring real gaming to the device. People will play it. Why wouldn’t they? You can do Angry Birds any time, but it doesn’t pay out.” Furthermore, the hustle and bustle of a packed casino floor can be an intimidating experience for a blackjack or roulette neophyte. By doing away with the need to venture onto the casino floor, casinos stand a much better chance of encouraging these visitors to gamble.

IGT, which claims 97% of casino customers bring a mobile device to the casino floor, is also on the cusp of rolling out live betting functionality, or ‘back-betting’, to certain properties this year. This will allow patrons to use their smartphones to play multiple, on-site live dealer games and, thus, avoid the need for casinos to install more physical tables when demand peaks. It is also a way for casinos to increase their hands per hour. Moreover, both PlaySpot, which is embedded within a casino’s mobile app and connected to loyalty accounts, and the back-betting feature could have a significant impact on a casino’s appearance in the future. “This technology has the potential to completely reshape the casino floor and redefine the experience of going to a casino,” says Cohen.

Meanwhile, MGM Resorts, the largest casino operator on the Strip, launched its own mobile gaming option last year. EasyPLAY Tournaments allow guests to compete with each other in a variety of tournaments, including slots, bingo and video poker, on mobile devices and InteractivePro tables. Developed by mobile gaming tech company oneLIVE, the product has since been expanded from nine resorts to Nevada-wide. At the time of the launch, MGM’s head of interactive, Lovell Walker, told CNBC.com it would “lay the foundation for what we do in the future” and that mobile is going to become a “major part of gaming”.

Yet for any land-based property’s mobile products to appeal to visitors, convenience is a crucial ingredient, Cohen emphasizes. “Convenience means more activity; more activity means more revenue. It’s that simple. So then the question becomes, how do we make this an even more convenient, seamless, simple experience for the player? You break down the various steps a player has to make to get to the bet they want, and come up with ways to make it easier. The limitations are your imagination and, of course, the regulations.”

A sporting chance

Besides casino gaming, sportsbooks in Nevada have steadily been embracing mobile in order to make wagering more convenient for bettors, as well as increasing revenues, customer loyalty and brand awareness. So far, the likes of William Hill, Boyd Gaming, South Point and Stations Casino, to name a few, have sportsbook apps while IGT created MGM Resorts’ sports betting product, playMGM, last year. To fund accounts (the initial minimum deposit is usually $100) and make withdrawals users have to visit a sportsbook in person. This in itself, you could argue, goes some way to providing an omni-channel experience as users are forced to visit a physical sportsbook.

One of Nevada’s most lavish properties, Wynn Las Vegas, launched a sportsbook app for iOS and Android devices last year to coincide with March Madness, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Like all sports betting apps in the Silver State, bettors have to be physically located in the state and pinpointed using geolocation technology. Despite this friction point in the user journey, Johnny Avello, director of race and sports operations, says the app ­– created by software company Miomni – has been a resounding hit with gamblers right from the get-go. “We signed up a lot of people initially and we are continuing to sign up many people. Every day we are seeing more sign ups.”

The Wynn Race and Sports Book

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a few of the more mature bettors, or “old timers” as Avello affectionately describes them, expressed no interest in, or need for, a mobile product. “But that was a very small percentage of the customers,” he notes. “Most said they like it for the convenience, the fact it was quick to get a bet on and they don’t have to be here to place the bet. If you ask the guests using it, 99% would say they are enjoying it and it’s everything they thought it would be.”  When EGR NA caught up with Avello he was busy preparing for the sportsbook’s revamp in three days’ time, which would mean decamping to a temporary sportsbook at sister property Encore.

The “total gut and rebuild” to create a fresh and modern interior and layout, he explains, will help to attract more younger clients, or millennials, and be more conducive to betting on a mobile device rather than using a cashier. “I notice that now – people don’t want to wait in line to make bets when they can bet on a smartphone. So we will still have a full room and people will be wagering, but we just won’t have a full line. Ten years from now, there may not even be a person to go up to and make a bet; everything may be done on your device, whatever that device might be.”

Boutique research and consulting firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming suggested last year that mobile betting could account for more than half (51%) of sports betting handle in Nevada by 2020. If correct, this would continue a steady climb from 13% back in 2012. While Cohen thinks 50% is “probably conservative”, mobile already accounts for more than a quarter of all handle at Wynn Race and Sports Book. “About 25 to 30% of our business is on mobile, which is pretty good after one year,” Avello announces proudly. “I think I would go along with that 50% [prediction for 2020].

Upwardly mobile

Over in Atlantic City where online gaming is legal, bosses at Resorts Hotel Casino have been striving to establish better links between online and land-based operations to provide an omni-channel experience. The focal point of these efforts is its dedicated iGaming Lounge. Open 24-hours a day, players can use it as a spot to hang out and bet on their own devices or one of the provided tablets or gaming tables. However, the lounge is set to undergo a big revamp, which will include a cashier desk after being given the green light by the Division of Gaming Enforcement. Players currently have to traipse to the main casino cage on the other side of the casino floor to fund online accounts.

The Resorts iGaming Lounge

This awkward user journey has been “difficult” for Resorts, according to Ed Andrewes, CEO of EA Gaming Consultancy, which manages the casino’s digital arm. He also says that despite still being “amazed” at how many brick-and-mortar gamblers still don’t realize online is legal in New Jersey, the lounge has been an extremely useful acquisition tool. It has been very good at generating accounts and acting as a training ground for customers,” he explains. “We have done very well out of cross-sell generally, but now we want to take it to the next stage and make it a revenue generator and an entertainment hub for the casino itself.”

He also notes that the way egaming was established in New Jersey in 2013 went some way to providing omni-channel for customers. “Right from the start [of online] in Atlantic City, there was a thinking of being omni-channel. The regulation was originally done with that in mind. All the casinos have online cash in and cash out facilities in the brick-and-mortar properties and we [online] are integrated to a certain extent with the bricks-and-mortar loyalty program.” Yet he adds that there is “always more than can be done when it comes to omni-channel”.

For those casinos situated in states where online gaming is outlawed, Cohen says they have a far harder task with omni-channel and engaging with players in the digital arena. “Omni-channel in North America is always going to be limited by the fact that online gaming off property is illegal [in most states]. This makes it hard for casinos to offer an extended experience for players when they leave the property – they have to be very creative. So right now it seems to me that the more forward-thinking operators are asking themselves, in this context, how can we use digital channels to maintain a relationship with customers to bring them back into the casino?”

Many North American casinos maintain that relationship with free-play social casino apps. As well as coming in especially handy for customer retention, these apps are a good substitute for real-money online gambling in the states where the practice is illegal. A prime example is myVegas utilized by MGM Resorts; this lets users play social casino games and earn rewards that can be exchanged at MGM properties, helping to cultivate a multi-channel user base. Yet John DeCree, head of North America Research at Union Gaming Securities, says the sector is “just scratching the surface” with mobile apps and omni-channel efforts. “Overall, the industry is still in the early days of expanding the omni-channel experience and finding ways to link and cross-market brick-and-mortar casinos to other platforms like social media, mobile and so on.” So it’s very much a case of watch this space. “We should expect a lot more to come as more and more casinos and technology providers continue to innovate,” he concludes.