Originally Posted by
DGenBen
Just curios since I wasn’t playing in 2009, did casino offers get better at that time to try to draw people back in?
Do you think once this current situation comes to an end that casinos may put out aggressive promotions to get folks back?
1. I’ll answer the second question first: It depends on your definition of “aggressive”. For some people, getting any offers at that time would be considered “aggressive”. You have to understand, as a general rule, “promo’s” come out of a “promo fund or budget” and that promo better make money. From my experience, most casino stuck to their tried and true promo’s and waited until business recovered. Casinos generally took a long term view on this problem.
2. In response to your 1st question, did the casino’s bet the bank to draw customers back into the casino: The short answer was no as a general comment. The casinos may have tried one-off or a monthly promo/offer, but there were no dedicated weekly offer that was so “generous” that you had to come into the casino. The casinos were afraid of “dine and dash” and wasn’t in the welfare program of supporting the community. The casino is a business and needs to be (a) profitable, (b) generate positive cash flow and (c) generating an adequate return on capital.
Let’s be honest, your questions are so vague that it’s hard to give a good answer. The general comment would be the casinos defended their best customers (e.g. their biggest losers) and weren’t interested in marginal customers or customers like bonus hustlers that made money. Traditionally, the casino’s left hand (slot operations) didn’t know what the right hand (marketing department) was doing, but during tough times, the casinos looked at the profitability of their customers.
Here is what I am trying to get across with these jobless claims, people on food stamps, people can’t pay rent posts (please get my hint!!): Get your expectations right. Expect more hustlers per machine, expect less plays to scavenge as there are less customers coming into the casino, and expect an influx of (recently unemployed) people looking to make money from bonus machines since said information is on the internet. I am not trying to rain on your parade, but you better manage your expectations. Gambling is considered entertainment and is a function of disposable income and disposal income is hard to come by (for now, especially if people are going into debt over the next few months).
The biggest wild card is how the elderly will respond: Did the Wuhan Virus spooked them into think casinos are no longer safe due to their age & other risk factors. I really don’t know the answer to this.
Good luck.