ON - Gaming industry plateau predicted
Dave Hall, Windsor Star, Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Casino Windsor “will do just fine in its niche” but the city can no longer look toward gambling as a growth industry, according to a leading gaming analyst.
The casino, which employs more than 3,000, will have to fight to retain market share in the face of cross-border competition even with the addition of a new hotel, convention space and a concert venue, said Jacob Miklojcik, president of Michigan Consultants.
Along with interior renovations to spruce up the existing casino it will also become known as Caesars Windsor in 2008. The name change is in recognition of its operators and is an effort to attract American customers. It is the first Caesars outside the States. Patrons will be able to tap into the Caesars rewards program.
“With the amount of competition close by, you end up running harder and harder just to stay in place,” Miklojcik said.
Casino Windsor, which once employed 4,000, laid off 329 staff in July as a result of decreasing business, largely blamed on cross-border woes and no-smoking legislation, amid projections that business will plummet by up to 75 per cent before rebounding once the $400 million expansion is completed in two years.
“With 80 per cent of the bettors coming from the Detroit area, the major challenge for Windsor is to keep people smiling while they’re losing money,” said Marvin Roffman of Roffman Miller Associates in Philadelphia. “Even though most people go to casinos to lose money, keeping them smiling and keeping them coming back when they’re doing it isn’t easy.”Roffman said Windsor’s expansion should make a difference because “it’s adding amenities it didn’t have before and that should draw a different audience but it has to be a very, very rewarding experience to bring them back.” The casino recently added a sports betting room, which has proved popular and is not available in Michigan.
Miklojcik believes the addition of a 5,000 seat concert venue will have minimal impact beyond raising the casino’s profile. “it doesn’t really add anything to the bottom line. You hope to break even and that the people going to the concert stick around and gamble a bit.”
But Milkojcik added that the concert venue does give Windsor an edge on its Detroit competition because none have made major plans for such amenities across the border.
If growing anti-smoking sentiments finally reach Michigan, Roffman said “it might level the playing field and gamblers might return to Windsor for the same reasons they went there in the first place — service, tax-free winnings and safety.”
Miklojcik said that pending legislation requiring people entering the U.S. to carry passports will also affect Casino Windsor. “even Americans who have passports, and there aren’t many of them, don’t always carry them, so you’ve largely lost the impulse visitors.
“And even if you decide to try and sell Windsor-Detroit as a casino destination, you have the impediment of the border to deal with,” said Miklojcik.
dhall@thestar.canwest.com or 519-255-5777, ext. 408.
© The Windsor Star 2006
© 2006 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
