MRI Casino Marketing Blog
Can Online Gambling Help Brick-and-Mortar Casinos Return to Profitability?

Kendall James of uspoker.com reports that the panelists at 2014’s iGaming North America Conference were quick to dispel any notion that online gambling will negatively impact casino revenue and kill jobs. Everyone from U.S. Senators to gaming industry execs spoke of their belief that online gaming may actually complement brick-and-mortar casinos and even become a life preserver of sorts for casinos struggling with market oversaturation and lost slots revenue.

There are many opinions on this subject. The logic that online gaming and actual casinos attract completely different clientele is sound. People that frequent casinos are often in it for the full casino experience – everything from the slots to the bar, food, entertainment and people watching.

Homebodies - say a 30ish couple with kids - may not be into the “casino vibe” or even be able to go out for the night. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t want to unwind with a glass of wine and some online slots or poker once they tuck the kids in. There may also be those who just can’t physically get around very well flocking to online games.

There is also the sentiment that the casino patron of tomorrow is the online player today. This is based on the idea that its retirees and seniors that keep casino’s full and today’s online players are just too busy to partake in the casino scene. The hope here is this player will gravitate toward the casino experience when they get older and slow down a bit. 

There may be some flaws with this line of thinking and generalization. Most likely people will simply go to the casino when they can and play online when they cannot. As long as the casino’s branding and marketing is in their face while they’re playing online slots or poker it’s still a win for that casino.

Online casinos won’t replace brick-and-mortar casinos. People will still want the feel and energy of a casino. Kendall James and the panel experts are quoted in the full article.

From “Online Gambling Does Not Hurt Brick and Mortar Casino Business” – courtesy of uspoker.com

“One of the biggest myths of iGaming is that it hurts brick and mortar casino business. The general idea is that if people can play at home they won’t need to visit casinos and jobs would be lost. The sentiment from iGaming North America panelists was clear, this is not the case.

In the first panel of the day, Senator Raymond Lesniak from New Jersey stated that Chris Christie signed the New Jersey iGaming bill to help save struggling Atlantic City casinos. With online gambling revenue, brick and mortar casinos would have a better shot of staying open and keep land-based jobs that were potentially at risk... “

Read more at

http://www.uspoker.com/blog/online-gambling-hurt-brick-mortar-casino-business/7729/