Archives: Articles

It all starts with a tree, specifically a beech tree, usually harvested from a forest or farm somewhere in Canada or the Eastern U.S. The wood from that tree is the cornerstone of a chair that one day will grace a casino floor in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or another far-flung corner of the globe.

It’s what happens in between that sets this chair apart, ensuring it will last despite the wear, tear and punishment that comes with day-in, day-out, 24/7 use.

Lasting Impressions

Durability has always been a guiding principle of Reno-based Gary Platt Manufacturing. In an often disposable age—and especially now, with resources and revenues in shorter supply—the firm’s clients also value the philosophy.

“We think it’s important, and our customers are asking for that too,” says CEO Joe Esposito. “A lot of our focus is on long-lasting products that are durable and reusable. Though all our chairs start with a 10-year warranty, they’re really designed to last forever. We’ve had chairs returned after 12 to 15 years, then refurbished and given new life to last another 10 or 15 years.”

For example, when an Atlantic City resort invested in new VIP chairs, it was able to repurpose existing chairs for the main floor. Such an approach reduces costs and conserves resources. It’s an idea that is gaining traction up and down the supply chain.

Research shows that support for sustainable products and practices is on the rise. According to a 2020 report from the Boston Consulting Group, 79 percent of consumers surveyed were willing to change their shopping preferences based on sustainability, and more than 60 percent of executives said sustainability increased brand value and customer loyalty. All of which lead to increased revenues.

This theory has proven particularly true in the casino industry. Gary Platt Manufacturing was founded on the premise that a comfortable chair will keep players at the slots or tables, increasing time on device and fueling profitability.

The company provides seating for the biggest names in casino games—IGT, Scientific Games, Aristocrat, Everi, Aruze, Konami—and gaming facilities of every size, from tiny slot halls in rural America to elegant European casinos to the imposing Resorts World Las Vegas, which opened in June on the Las Vegas Strip.

At Ease

The chair of our story is strong and durable but also lightweight, thanks in part to that beech tree, which Esposito calls “the softer of the hardwoods.”

Prized for its hardiness, beech has been used for millennia to make furniture, flooring, watercraft, musical instruments and so on. The logs can also be crosscut, debarked, and peeled into ribbons of veneer to make plywood, which forms the core of the Gary Platt chair. The rest of the materials—the proprietary cold-cured foam, the steel or aluminum frames, the hardware and upholstery—are also made to last, Esposito says.

Comfort isn’t overlooked in the quest for durability. In 2019, a slot player at Reno’s Tamarack Casino said his Gary Platt chair got “a lot of credit” for keeping him in the game. “When you sit in a chair for an hour, two, three hours you tend to have issues with your back,” Mike Czarnick told KOLO-TV. “So with these chairs—it’s fabulous.”

“The most important thing is comfort; it’s the key factor in how we design a chair,” says Gary Platt Head Designer Ed Abadie, who has made a career-long study of ergonomic principles and the “three Fs:” form, fit and function. Application of these principles can make the most angular, minimalist casino chair “sit well” for extended periods, ensuring the comfort of the player and offering continued support. The foam of each casino chair is sculpted to support the users’ activity, alleviating pressure points and allowing for comfort and ease.

Accidents happen, and if the seat of the chair is damaged on the casino floor, it’s quick work to replace it, says Abadie. “You’ll have a stash in the back of extra seats. You simply unscrew two screws, take the seat off and pop on a new one. It’s a lot less drama and expense that way.” It also ensures that no chair is indefinitely out of commission.

Design concepts often originate with the client, the casino operator, and it’s up to Gary Platt’s design team to take sometimes fanciful visions and make them work in real life.

“We kind of take a design, tear it down, and rebuild it our way, to make it functional,” Abadie says. Endurance and comfort are built in, and so is stability. The latter is important in a casino setting, where people of all sizes recline, sprawl, ride sidesaddle, and occasionally teeter at the edge of their seats, awaiting big jackpots.

The spread of the frame and the design of the base help the products safely withstand them all—the sprawlers, the teeterers and the would-be tippers, says Abadie.

“As you can imagine, casinos are big liability targets, and it’s super-important to us that chair’s not going to be tippable or cause any other problems for the casino.”

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Expert sewing team, doing it old-school

While sustainability is undoubtedly a buzzword and a trend, the approach could not be more traditional. Gary Platt’s manufacturing process makes the most of its materials, with every bolt of fabric and piece of wood calculated and cut for optimum use and minimum waste. “We do not create a lot of byproducts,” says Esposito.

When an order of finished chairs is ready to ship, instead of triple-wrapping the units in plastic or other prefab, hard-to-recycle materials, Gary Platt uses blankets. At the point of delivery, workers simply unload the chairs, position them on the floor, and throw the blankets back on the truck, to be returned to the factory in Reno.

“It’s great for everybody,” says Esposito. “There’s no waste and no leftover packaging materials on the back end.”

Blanket-wrapping also allows more units to be stowed onto a delivery truck. That makes for fewer delivery trips, less time on the road, less fuel, and a lower carbon footprint.

In a typical year, Gary Platt Manufacturing builds 90,000 chairs for use in resorts in North and South America, Europe and Australia (a third of those may be one of the most popular models, called the Monaco). And while it fills massive orders for thousands of chairs, it has also accommodated orders as small as five.

All for One

For even more efficiency, it’s all produced under one roof, by a team of 80-plus U.S. workers, at the Reno home base. Parts of the process, such as the laser-cutting of fabrics, are automated. But the sewing and upholstering are done the old-fashioned way, on sewing machines and by hand, as well as the final assembly.

The design team is also on the same property, says Esposito. “So when Ed’s designing something and wants to make changes or (director of engineering) Dan Waller wants to do something different, they’re able to just take those ideas right out on the production floor.

“From start to finish, our chairs are handcrafted and custom-made by expert sewers, upholsterers and assembly workers. These trained, skilled people really make it happen.”

Not surprisingly, Covid-19 has brought a few changes to the manufacturing process. Working with a partner, Gary Platt created a new line of anti-fungal, anti-mildew fabrics called Healthy Play. The material doesn’t support microbiological growth, contains no anti-bacterial chemicals, and meets stringent emission standards, for better indoor air quality.

Live Long & Prosper

Decades from now, the chair that began with a beech tree may still be in use at a casino somewhere in the world. That longevity matters to the company and its customers, from coast to coast and around the world.

“We believe we have the highest value proposition,” says Esposito. “A Gary Platt chair is going to last a long time. The longer it lasts and stays comfortable, the more money the casino makes.

“But at the end of the day, our biggest competitive advantage is that our seats are just more comfortable than everybody else’s.”

Gary Platt: An Unsurpassed Innovator

Now retired, Gary Platt last attended G2E in 2019

Sit. Stay. Play. Those three words sum up why Gary Platt is a legendary figure in the gaming industry.

More than 60 years ago, as a traveling furniture salesman, he was in Las Vegas when he stopped at a casino to play blackjack. Not only did he find the stool rickety and uncomfortable, he was astounded to see slot players on their feet in the narrow aisles, standing as they fed coins into the machines.

“I thought somebody was missing the boat there,” says Platt, who saw an opportunity to do things better—and sell a few of his company’s barstools in the bargain.

He pitched the casino operator, who sent him to the chair distributor, who told him all the reasons his idea wouldn’t work. For one thing, a blackjack stool can’t be swapped for a barstool, because it’s narrower, in order to fit seven people around the table. It also needs a shorter seat, at a height of 27 inches, and a straighter back. “But those were really easy things for our factory to do,” says Platt. Eventually, the distributor, Paul Endy, took on Platt’s line of retooled stools to great success.

Platt remained convinced casinos were losing money by forcing their slot players to stand. Again, he took his pitch to the operators, saying, “If they sit down, they’ll stay longer and play longer instead of putting in a few quarters and moving on.” The operators refused, saying there wasn’t enough room on the slot floor to install seating.

Platt persisted. He returned to Endy and said, “There’s got to be somebody who owes you a favor, or loves you—somebody I can talk to who won’t give me the same answer.”

Endy directed him to a small Vegas casino, where Platt proposed a solution: he would supply the operator with a comfortable slot stool at no cost, without obligation. If business didn’t improve, he would remove the stools, and the operator would owe nothing.

“He reluctantly said OK,” recalls Platt, “because of Paul.”

Platt shipped two dozen chairs to the casino, enough to equip one slot aisle. And bingo.

“People flocked to try the stools, and the drop on that one aisle rose, not 5 or 10 percent, but astronomically.” Soon slot manufacturers were lining up for stools, including a company called Sircoma, which eventually became IGT. “With the amount of stools they bought, it was utterly fantastic,” says Platt. “We started getting all the manufacturers.”

He innovated on the chair designs as needed, devising wider bases, adding brackets to attach the stools to the machine, and so on. “I wasn’t a designer, but I found things that were needed and took them back to the factory, where they made things happen.” Platt became so closely associated with casino chairs that in the late 1990s, when his colleagues Leonard Einhorn and Bob Yabroff formed a manufacturing company, they called it Gary Platt Manufacturing, with the tag line: Unsurpassed.

“I didn’t make too many mistakes,” Platt acknowledges. “But just because my name is on the door doesn’t mean I knew everything. The factory was wonderful with coming up with solutions.”

At 95, he is now an elder statesman of the gaming industry. And though Platt retired 10 years ago, he still keeps an eye on the business that bears his name. “If there’s something I think is useful, I pass it on.”

Asked the secret of his success, Platt credits inquisitiveness “and knowing things can be better. ‘How can I help people?’ was a big thing with our company. If people were having a difficult time with something, I would ask, ‘Is there a better way to do it?’”

Of course, there was a little bit of luck involved, too, he says. Vegas-style luck. “My whole future was changed by going to play blackjack that night.”

As a result of the pandemic, casino operators have had to rethink their non-gaming amenity strategy, altering their programs to better suit their consumers and improve their bottom line. In the past year, as the industry reopened, some patrons were happy to find a refreshed hotel room product, reconfigured food and beverage options, new entertainment choices, and other revitalized non-gaming products. The pandemic gave operators a chance to redefine the entertainment experience.

Sports Betting and Revitalized Casino Food & Beverage

Sports betting, while a gaming amenity, has dramatically changed the non-gaming offering provided by casinos across the United States.

From both a mobile and land-based perspective, sports betting has become intertwined with casinos’ amenity offerings. In legal markets, one would be hard pressed not to find sports betting applications up and running on people’s mobile phones in casino bars. In these jurisdictions, casinos have been able to increase length of stay on property as well as spend on gaming and non-gaming items, particularly food and beverage.

Some operators have integrated the sportsbook experience into existing food and beverage outlets, adding digital displays of varying sizes to showcase games and odds. While certain operators have taken a more traditional sportsbook route, others have completely redefined the experience. Consider the BetMGM Sportsbook at Park MGM in Las Vegas and the Caesars Sportsbook at the LINQ. These savvy operators have found a new way to entice new and current consumers to visit and wager on sporting events while also spending money at the bar and restaurant and sometimes visiting the casino floor as well.

The sportsbook at the LINQ includes intimate pods where groups can enjoy the games, grab a bite and enjoy the hang.

Casinos have realized that while the gaming opportunity associated with sports betting can be minimal, the non-gaming opportunity can be substantial. The U.S. is in the thick of professional and collegiate football season, was recently in the throes of the World Series, and is diving into the regular seasons of the NHL and NBA. So consumers have games to watch every day of the week.

Smart operators are figuring out how to further engrain their properties into this form of entertainment and reap the benefits. By doing so, they have been able to integrate their facilities into their communities and solidify their properties as their market’s entertainment hub. By presenting a venue for patrons to congregate, enjoy a meal and wager, casinos have been able to improve the loyalty of their existing customers as well as expand their customer base overall.

Regardless of the way it’s presented in land-based casinos, sports betting has successfully woven itself into the fabric of the overall casino experience.

Rethinking the Traditional Casino F&B Program

In many markets, the pandemic forced casinos to shut down most of their food and beverage offerings, presenting an opportunity for operators to review the effectiveness of their current outlets. In some cases, stringent regulations were enforced on specific outlets, like buffets.

While some operators were able to maintain buffets by shifting away from “serve-yourself” models, many used the pandemic as an excuse to rid themselves of this underperforming asset.

In almost every circumstance, casino buffets were not profit-producing amenities, but instead were utilized as marketing tools. But these marketing tools were not only losing money, they also encouraged customers to spend too much of their time dining or standing in line to dine (away from the casino floor).

By reconfiguring these venues to other outlet types (such as food courts, three-meal restaurants and sports bars) operators could create stand-alone profit centers while more efficiently and effectively serving their patrons, and giving them more time to spend in the casino.

Hotels, Health and Safety

The hotel industry was forever changed by the pandemic. Fortunately for casinos, their large reliance on the leisure segment and access to database demand segments have generally allowed their hotel properties to survive.

With reduced occupancy levels, some casinos even made use of the downtime to perform renovations and expansions, avoiding construction disruption that would have been previously unavoidable. The El Cortez Hotel & Casino in Downtown Las Vegas reinvested approximately $25 million into its property, including new hotel rooms and several other items. And the Bellagio renovated its room product in an effort to attract customers and help them feel safer, with added health and safety protocols.

Similar protocols have been deployed throughout the hotel industry. Marriott International is a prime example of the efforts undertaken to combat the pandemic through health and safety measures imposed at its facilities. Marriott launched a Marriott Cleanliness Council, gathering in-house and outside experts in food and water safety, hygiene and infection prevention and hotel operations. This council’s mission is to focus on actively monitoring and evolving Marriott’s solutions to ensure a continued focus on the health and safety of its guests and associates.

In the casino industry, major companies like Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts rolled out comprehensive health and safety programs to help bring back meetings and tourists to Las Vegas and other regional markets.

Among many other initiatives, Wynn Resorts opened an on-site Covid-19 testing center for employees with University Medical Center. As a part of its Convene with Confidence program, MGM teamed up with experts to create a health and safety protocols guide, with specific, actionable and practical information—everything from cleaning schedules for common areas in public and back-of-house spaces to paying special attention to high-contact areas such as doorknobs and food contact surfaces.

These programs and protocols will likely continue to be important going forward in a post-pandemic world.

Business and Leisure Lead the Charge

As the world opens back up, leisure travel is booming. The U.S. recently reopened its northern and southern borders to more than just nonessential travelers. Business travel is also coming back, but at a slower pace as businesses reconsider what constitutes essential travel.

Even so, Smith Travel Research, a hotel data and analytics firm, doesn’t anticipate that the increase in leisure tourism will be enough to bring the hospitality industry back to 2019 demand levels. As a result, casino hotels will need to continue to focus on the potential use of their internal gaming databases to offset lackluster levels of latent demand.

MICE Remains Far from Recovery

The MICE industry has also been greatly impacted, and its future is still in flux. Casino hotels in markets like Atlantic City are still in recovery mode, as they previously relied heavily on meeting and convention business to fill room inventory during the midweek period.

However, in other markets, there are some promising trends emerging for this segment, with companies like Wynn Resorts expecting their Las Vegas assets to have the most group bookings in its company’s history in the second half of 2021.

Despite some signs of hope, the meeting and convention industry isn’t close to recovering. Throughout the pandemic, event hosts had to rethink their approach, switching to web-based platforms and online meetings. This portion of the industry will be forever changed as a result, with participants and hosts seeing the financial value of converting certain in-person events to online events and pinpointing which events they want to hold in person moving forward.

Pandemic-related MICE restrictions are still present. While Covid-19 protocols continue to vary by jurisdiction, some venues and events have employed their own pandemic-related measures. At the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas this year, attendees were required to submit proof of vaccination and adhere to mask protocols. Phone applications like Clear Health Pass helped make this a relatively easy process. There are still varying degrees of mask requirements across the country. These regulations aren’t expected to disappear anytime soon.

It’s expected that meetings and conventions will continue to deploy a hybridized approach with both in-person and digital events post-pandemic. After a completely digital show in 2021, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) plans to give attendees a hybrid event, with both a virtual experience and a suitably regulated in-person experience. Moving forward, casinos with meeting and convention space will need to develop strategies to provide and/or accommodate both mediums for their customers, allowing them to more effectively compete for market share.

Flexible Entertainment

Large concerts are starting to make a comeback, with music legends like Billy Joel scheduled to perform at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood early next year.

At the height of the pandemic, large concerts—or any concerts, for that matter—were nonexistent. As pandemic restrictions lifted, casino entertainment acts emerged in various forms. In general, the entertainment experience offered was more intimate (due to capacity restrictions imposed by government authorities or by operators to make their venues more comfortable for patrons). More comedy acts and specialty acts were featured instead of grandiose acts that required large visitation to pencil out financially.

Outside the casino industry, entertainment venue concepts like the Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado were able to accommodate fluctuating levels of demand. This venue was designed to adjust in size with a moving stage, shifting its ability to accommodate crowds from 2,200 to 3,950. The space wasn’t designed with the looming pandemic in mind, but its ability to function properly and maintain the energy in the facility for multiple types of audiences and acts allowed it to thrive.

Going forward, the casino industry can look towards venues like this one to make its entertainment facilities more attractive and adaptable.

Carving a Path Forward

Meetings and convention facilities like Caesars Forum will take longer to recover than any other segment of the gaming industry.

Even with refreshed and reinvigorated amenities, casino operators will still face several challenges moving forward.

Most notably, labor issues will remain at the forefront of the conversation as the pandemic continues to lead to a massive labor shortage due to issues surrounding unemployment benefits, among other items. According to a recent survey conducted by Joblist (an employment-search engine), more than half of U.S. hospitality workers stated they would not go back to their old jobs, and more than a third are not considering coming back to the industry at all. This is due to a number of reasons, including a desire for a different work setting, higher pay, better benefits, more schedule flexibility and remote work opportunities.

With casinos shorthanded across the industry and hospitality labor shortages expected in the medium term, operators need to improvise and adapt by further reconfiguring non-gaming amenity programs and finding technology solutions that can be helpful in easing the burden on staff. Some of these platforms have already been implemented at casinos like Resorts World Las Vegas, with a touchscreen-enabled ordering platform in its food court and kiosks at the hotel check-in at Wynn Las Vegas.

Despite these challenges, with the right adjustments to facility programming, the implementation of best practices from other areas of the hospitality industry, and appropriate uses of technology, the casino industry can reemerge from the pandemic with a more complete, robust and successful amenity offering than before.

Covid-19 put a crimp in the live Evo Championships this year at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Evo held a virtual competition, but there’s something about live action that can’t be matched by the online version. Hopefully next summer, if the joystick gods are kind, the live games will resume, bringing back esports stars and their scores of devoted fans.

In the past, the Evo series often sold out at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and attracted thousands more to the property, according to Josh Swissman, founding partner with The Strategy Group in Las Vegas.

“This shows that an esports tournament can be a big enough draw on its own to get people to Las Vegas to watch it in person,” he says. “Now imagine that same event with other add-on experiences to complement the tournament itself. Meet-and-greets with famous esports athletes, for example. These would represent additional ways for the hosting property to monetize this crowd, and better introduce the next generation of game players and gamblers to these resorts.”

The future doesn’t necessarily belong to esports. But these games will have a seat at the table.

A Whole New Audience

For the Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, that seat was in an esports lounge that first opened in 2015. For several years—until Covid-19—the casino ran hundreds of cash tournaments in the lounge, and a William Hill sportsbook on property at the time accepted bets, the first time in esports history in the U.S., says Seth Schorr, CEO of Fifth Street Gaming and chairman of the Downtown Grand.

Covid had an impact, he adds, but not all of it was negative.

“It was very positive that during the lockdown, when traditional sports ceased, esports became a popular sport to take action on,” Schorr says. The interlude also exposed esports to whole a new audience.

A year later, operators are focused on traditional sports, driving to acquire new markets and new customers as legal betting expands. As a result, esports have taken a back seat, Schorr says.

“However, as we transition from the customer acquisition phase to the retention phase, I believe esports will be used by many sportsbooks to tap into a new audience and offer a differentiating product.”

Most adults understand something about video games, which they may have played in bedrooms back in the days of Pong, and which their kids and grandkids have inherited. These days, the games have developed far beyond Pac- Man and Asteroids in terms of complexity and graphics. But they remain a skill—like football or basketball, but with glorified joysticks instead of balls. Esports players may tackle games like Madden NFL or NBA 2K, but more often go for shoot-’em-up combat games like Call of Duty.

“Just like traditional ‘stick-and-ball’ sports, esports betting can be a fan betting on the outcome of a professional match,” Schorr says.

To ensure the esports industry doesn’t become the Wild West with no rules, the Nevada legislature approved a law last summer requiring the state Gaming Control Board to create an Esports Technical Advisory Committee. The bill empowered the committee to make recommendations for esports and the board to adopt regulations based on those recommendations. The upshot will be to determine what kind of esports matches casinos can take bets on.

Schorr calls the committee a welcome development. “It was a very cumbersome process for a sportsbook operator to get approval from the regulators to take a wager on esports,” he says.

Nevada currently handles esports betting by requiring sportsbooks to submit applications that are subject to approval by the Gaming Control Board.

“This is definitely going to be the wave of the future,” board member Philip Katsaros told CDC Gaming Reports. Esports “has a lot of momentum and it’s going to continue to grow. … I’m glad we’re getting ahead of it as much as we can, since it’s already been a train running down the track for a while.”

For Las Vegas, it’s about betting on big tournaments and events. That could mean a League of Legends world final or gaming operators holding their own tournaments, Schorr says. “The Overwatch League is something we should be completely comfortable betting on each game, and not just the winner of the league,” he says.

The Hyper-X Arena at Luxor in Las Vegas caters specifically to esports enthusiasts.

In peer-to-peer esports betting, two people or teams bet against each other in games of skill. This element is still in its infancy from a gambling perspective, but a company called Gamer Wager has been licensed by the U.K. Gaming Commission to take such bets.

According to the company’s website, “We have been in development since 2016 and are expanding to daily/weekly/monthly tournaments in the near future. Our aim is to let people bet on themselves in a fun and compliant way.” Look for these bets to hit the U.S. market in 2022.

In more mature betting markets like Europe, esports is already a Top 5 sport, Schorr says, and the U.S. lags behind much of the world when it comes to embracing the phenomenon.

“In Europe and Latin America, esports has been a big vertical in online sports betting for some time,” says Brandon Apter, spokesman for Esports Entertainment Group, founded by former online gaming exec Grant Johnson. “It’s just beginning to be legalized here in the U.S., and we’re very optimistic about the market potential.”

The Canadian-based group is “fueled by the growth of video gaming and the ascendance of esports with new generations,” per its website. Its mission statement is to “help connect the world at large with the future of sports entertainment in unique and enriching ways that bring fans and gamers together.”

Nowhere to Go But Up

Johnson recognized that esports would be a major new vertical for sports betting, Apter says, with first-person shooter games such as Overwatch and Call of Duty among the most popular titles. Don’t discount the popularity of sports simulation games like Madden, FIFA, NBA 2K and iRacing, all of which gained big followings during the Covid lockdowns.

“Taken altogether, I think the entire esports space will rank as a Top 5 sports betting vertical within the next five years,” says Apter. “Over time, it will likely slot in behind football and basketball, but ahead of hockey and baseball.”

To illustrate the potential of esports, just look at the International Dota 2 tournament, which took place in October in Bucharest. According to PC Gamer magazine, Team Spirit from Eastern Europe won Dota 2’s Aegis trophy three games to two, and pocketed more than $18 million. The runners-up, China’s PSG.LGD, had to settle for $5.2 million.

That kind of money isn’t chicken scratch. Neither is $69 million. That’s what the Entain Group plans on investing this year in newly acquired Unikrn, a Seattle-based leader in esports betting. Entain plans to enter the esports market next year with Justin Dellario, former vice president of original content for Twitch, serving as managing director of esports.

“Entain is all about creating exciting and innovative products for our customers,” Dellario said in a statement. “With Unikrn, we’ll now be able to offer competitive gamers and esports fans alike rewarding experiences surrounding the games and events they love.”

Entain has acquired Unikrn’s technology, products, platform and brand including U-Mode, which enables gamers to bet on their own ranked matches in competitive video game titles.

In order to understand the impact that esports will have on sports betting, “You first have to look at the impact it’s already had on the general public’s sports consumption habits,” Swissman says.

Esports has attracted legions of fans, become a wildly popular spectator sport around the world, and is increasingly visible in the U.S.

“This trend has existed for years, and I don’t see it reversing or going anywhere but up, especially in the states,” says Swissman.

So why hasn’t esports grabbed hold yet as a betting platform like more traditional sports?

Swissman thinks the disconnect between esports’ popularity as a spectator sport and betting owes to the fact that most esports enthusiasts are currently under the legal gambling age. “There hasn’t been much demand, but I think you’ll ultimately see full team/tournament/league wagering opportunities, along with more progressive in-game-style wagers.”

Like Apter, Swissman believes esports will end up side by side with more established sports in both the retail and the online space. “I also think casinos will begin to house their own esports tournaments and events,” he says.

Imagine a weekend-long esports team tournament or an esports season that’s a couple of months long, Swissman says. It works on a fantasy sports level too. Fantasy participants could draft teams, as in football and baseball. The much shorter season could evoke more interest among casual bettors.

“This may actually grow the fantasy market,” Swissman says. “Correspondingly, casinos could house these tournaments to help generate interest in the wagering component of esports.” As a bonus, these tourneys are relatively inexpensive when up against traditional sports.

However, when casinos housed esports tournaments in the past, profits didn’t follow because the events were “not well aligned and integrated into the rest of the resort experience,” according to Swissman.

But that could all change as esports gain in popularity. For all the buzz around the games, they’re just beginning to make inroads in the U.S.

As Apter says, “Esports fans are very passionate, and all indications show that they want to bet on their favorite teams just as much as traditional sports fans do.”

As Covid-19 reaches the rearview mirror of gaming operators, its future impact fits two distinct areas.

Some properties have resumed pre-pandemic operations with a few tweaks. Others consider the post-pandemic world a permanent change for casino design. Casinos will incorporate safety-first measures and try striking a balance between safety, comfort, player cultivation and bottom-line innovations.

As casinos emerge from the pandemic, and resume investing in their operations, the design industry’s biggest players guide them forward, armed with the knowledge of which camp each property fits in.

Making Lemons from Lemonade

Covid produced new realities, which breeds new opportunities in the eyes of HBG Design, a powerful group that has helped its clients get out in front of the pandemic.

“If there is such a thing as good news about ‘design after Covid,’ it’s the emphasis on flexibility and reinvention. Those two words have been a steady part of the gaming vernacular practically since its inception,” says Dike Bacon, principal at HBG Design.

“You have to keep your property fresh and in-step with trends in consumer behaviors, and while it may sound strange to think of ‘design after Covid’ as an opportunity, it represents one of the biggest shifts in consumer behaviors we’ve seen, possibly ever.”

HBG Design works with operators to re-think and re-invent communal spaces in their properties—from F&B to guest rooms, entertainment venues and, of course, the casino floor, he indicates. “These spaces will continue to play a vital role in connecting people; the design simply has to adapt and flex to support all of humanity’s newly redefined needs,” Bacon asserts.

Gaming-floor space provides another creative outlet. Although new ramifications have hit this area, the reason people gamble has not, according to Nathan Peak, AIA, LEED Green Associate, who also is a principal and design director at HBG. “The pandemic may have redefined the way we think about spaces—especially communal spaces,” Peak says, “but the reason why guests come together to share experiences hasn’t changed.

“The essence of these interactive entertainment spaces hasn’t been lost. Casino resort amenities and especially the casino floor thrive on big spaces teeming with lots of energy and people, and they always will.”

Applying thoughtful, flexible design sensibilities to communal gaming spaces and amenities is more critical than ever before, as these spaces must now be able to easily transform and handle fluid situations, he indicates.

“The key,” says Peak, “is reimagining what flexibility looks like. Before Covid, flexibility may have meant stackable furniture or retractable event space seating, but the word flexibility has been redefined because of the pandemic. Today, we look at flexibility as shaping spaces that are malleable and can adjust to a host of layout options suitable for individual privacy, groups, and social interaction.

“Ultimately, it’s about designing flexible spaces that cater to flexible needs. The ideas of physical space and user experience are more connected than ever before, as people may still feel wary of sitting close to others, yet don’t want to be in isolation.”

High Limits area at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort/HBG Design

The idea of adaptable and flexible public spaces can be seen throughout HBG Design’s recently completed Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in historic Hot Springs, Arkansas. Across the property one sees influence of “design after Covid,” Peak asserts, noting its soaring hotel lobby space designed with a number of different interaction zones that easily shift from quiet personal spaces to socialization hubs for groups to gather before heading to the casino floor.

Flexible FF&E accompanies thoughtfully considered layouts that can be easily changed and reconfigured depending on the needs of operators and their guests.

“In the Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort lobby, we’ve used bold architectural gestures like the grand staircase and escalators which create dramatic structural elements and strong visual presence that directs casino guests to the main gaming floor, new food court and the hotel guest rooms on the second level,” Peak indicates. “Every space needs a moment that pulls you in, and these central elements draw you in, create interest and also provide a sense of openness in the space that puts guests in the right frame of mind—that they’ve entered not only a beautiful, glamorous entertainment space, but a safe space to enjoy.”

The pandemic has also seriously affected regional material sourcing, which plays a vital role in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

Bacon says a new sensibility about sourcing materials from regional makers and manufacturers has come out of the pandemic. “As designers seek to achieve an aesthetic that is of the area and create experiential moments, local and regional materials play a vital role in expressing that authenticity.

“Where the pandemic comes into play is in the material shortages, higher costs, and longer lead times the entire AEC industry is experiencing today,” he adds. “Covid created significant manufacturing shutdowns, especially overseas, leading to material shortages and often complete lack of availability, higher tariffs from international manufacturers shipping domestically and transportation concerns. As an alternative, carefully sourced regional options can not only circumvent such transportation and tariff issues, but they can also promote greater connection to place in meaningful ways.”

The effects of Covid extend to another area, the disrupted supply chains.

Lobby area at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort/HBG Design

“Supply chain issues will probably go on for another year or so,” says Emily Marshall, IIDA, NCIDQ, principal and director of HBG Design’s Interior Design Group. “Many of our clients in the branded hospitality space, as well as in gaming, have told us they are looking at 30–32-week lead items for most of their FF&E and lighting. That makes a big impact on accommodating anticipated construction and installation schedules.”

One way HBG Design is working around the supply chain situation is by using more regional manufacturers who employ skilled tradesmen who build case goods and millwork in a shop, versus working onsite. This not only keeps the level of quality high, but also increases efficiency.

“We’re very supportive of this type of FF&E delivery because the craftsmanship is excellent and there is so much less waste as a result,” adds Marshall. “Like Dike said, if there can be any sort of ‘good’ outcome of the pandemic, it’s that our eyes have been opened to looking at everything from design to delivery through a different lens, while reimagining the way spaces are used, designed, and furnished. And that, in the long run, will be better for everyone.”

Flexibility is Key

The global pandemic touched Cuningham’s clients in varied ways, causing the company to “adjust and meet them where they need us most,” says Brett Ewing, principal and executive director of play at Cuningham. “For our projects that were in design during the Covid shutdown in 2020, we worked with the managers and operators in real time to pivot their design solutions.

“Our technology tools enabled us to maintain their schedules and meet our clients’ goals to delivertoch their projects. Working closely with the operators, we increased the physical spacing between the games with aesthetic solutions, avoiding the use of ‘Plexiglass everywhere.’

“Some of our operators see the spread-out games as a permanent layout for the future, but we always design for flexibility in the future.”

Ewing indicates that the pandemic caused everyone to approach life in different ways, including the manner in which people interact with spaces. Cuningham has woven this into its projects.

Tachi Palace Casino/Cuningham

“A great example of this is our recent work with the Tachi-Yokut Tribe in Lemoore, California,” he says. “They immediately implemented spacing changes to their slot floor, which we incorporated into our remodel and expansion design. The customers responded positively to the extra open space and dispelled some of the rules of thumb in gaming psychology.

“The other fascinating move they made was to go non-smoking and removing all alcohol from the casino. Their revenue actually increased after these changes, which again went against the norm. These results told them that the customers want to be in a safe environment and want to ‘be together,’ which was also a reflection of the pent-up demand for entertainment and having fun.”

The Tachi Palace Casino also is embracing the post-pandemic world, he says. There, Cuningham is working on a 24,000-square-foot expansion and remodel of the existing resort at an estimated $90 million investment. The overall design goal is to modernize the entire gaming floor and give the property a fresh look. After completion, it will include an expansive sports bar with the flexibility of both indoor and outdoor dining options, an expanded food market, and a new high-limit room.

The layout will feature a more open plan, and symmetrical space with a new sculptural porte-cochère that provides a sense of entry. The renovations also enhance improvements necessitated by the pandemic, including new HVAC and air purification systems, contactless technology, sanitizing stations, and to continue with additional space between gaming machines and tables. The buffet space has been replaced with a high-limit room and a grab-and-go market.

Ewing considers the company’s work with the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians in Funner, California, at the Harrah’s Southern California Resort, another example of moving forward post-pandemic. The property is replacing the buffet with a Hell’s Kitchen restaurant.

“The buffet closed permanently at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, when all California buffet restaurants were forced to close under Covid safety measures,” he says.

“We are seeing most buffets being repurposed, which provides great opportunities for these spaces. The estimated 11,000-square-foot renovation will feature three areas for guests to experience multi-Michelin-starred chef and television personality Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen. At 332 seats, it’s the largest version of Ramsay’s concept restaurant to date and will include an elevated bar, full-service restaurant, and elegant lounge. Custom design features include a towering wine wall featuring exceptional vintages.”

Ewing indicates that new technologies allow Cuningham to change how it approaches recreational space design in the reality. However, it can be cumbersome to operators who have outdated spaces that were not designed to allow for adaptations and movement. The way designers approach projects should incorporate the flexibility needed for life today, he adds.

Normal Returns Quickly

SOSH Architects experienced the other side of the equation. Many of its clients adapted quickly and didn’t make huge design changes to accommodate Covid restrictions. They quickly returned to pre-Covid layouts, keeping a few elements that they enjoyed during the height of the pandemic.

“The initial impact of the shutdown was very cumbersome, having to quickly resolve spacing limitations by removing seats and equipment, and adding dividers where needed,” says Arley Sochocky, the interior design studio manager for SOSH Architects. “Fortunately, this is no longer the reality. We see operators moving past this and wanting to create something similar to what was in place before, but still new and exciting for their clientele. The immediate need to shift gears and accommodate social distancing, and other indoor dining and entertainment restrictions, has eased up tremendously since 2020.”

Sochocky says SOSH clients were able to make the necessary adjustments during the initial shutdown and slowly resume to their previous floor layouts in recent months. They have used it as an opportunity to refresh their properties for returning guests, while keeping flexibility to remove or space out seating as an option if they need to adapt again in the future.

Many clients have also expanded their restaurants to include outdoor dining and lounge areas. Sochocky says casino floors are returning to their pre-pandemic layout. They remain fluid and flexible to adapt as needed. The company now sees its clients making the most from their properties, such as expanding and better utilizing outdoor spaces and redesigning restrooms to have fewer touchpoints (touchless sinks, soap dispensers, hand dryers, etc.).

None of the changes made in response to Covid at SOSH’s client properties were permanent, Sochocky indicates.

“We see them returning to a ‘new normal’ that is similar to what was previously considered normal,” Sochocky says. “More properties are incorporating outdoor spaces for dining, lounges and gaming, because people enjoyed having that experience when it was their only option, not necessarily because it is still a requirement.”

The pandemic turned many businesses in various industries upside down, he adds. Those who remain successful were those who knew how to quickly adapt and remain flexible as guidelines and restrictions evolved over the course of the last two years.

“A new casino property in Indiana was under construction during the pandemic and opened in spring of 2021,” Sochocky indicates. “The client and our design team planned for the eventual return to ‘normal.’ Collaborating with the client and design team allowed us to develop creative solutions for flexible use of spaces.

“For example, an entertainment venue which couldn’t be used at the time of the grand opening because of indoor restrictions was instead used to house extra seating and gaming equipment which was removed to allow for extra space on the casino floor. Foresight and flexibility were key factors in our design planning for this project, and we expect those to continue to be important factors in all hospitality design projects moving forward.”

Across the industry, casinos slowly accept the need to compete again, not merely survive. The Covid converts, operators who form a seamless transition from the pandemic into the next look of their property, will gain a step up.