Gaming – East Coast Gaming Congress Looks to Millennials for the Future of Gaming

     The participants at the 20th Annual East Coast Gaming Congress in Atlantic City, New Jersey brought various perspectives on issues regarding the present status and the future of gaming around the world.  A central topic was finding new participants in gaming; a search that will include and be centralized on millennials.  After mutual agreement was found quickly on the inclusion of millennials, the focus changed on how to attract this group. 

     Efforts to attract millennials will be based on a multiple pronged approach to interest and to challenge to this group.  The core of this approach will focus on millennials inherent bias towards games that include an analytic element rather than entertainment only; it is recognized that what worked in the past -- a cup of nickels and a slot machine -- will not attract millennials.  Millennials are mostly educated and require some type of analytical necessity to keep their attention and interest.  Further, the competitive nature of millennials needs to be included in any approach to obtain and maintain millennials in gaming.

     Recognizing these attributes of the millennial, the focus of new games will include iGaming which is very familiar to millenials based on the corresponding development of smart phones and related technology during their maturing years and now into adulthood.  The iGaming area has the analytical challenge and familiarity but also allows for an increase in gaming without the need for “brick and mortar” casinos or “racisinos “.  Evidence exists that the amount of time that millennials spend on their i-technology continually increases.  This increased time will be the opportunity to provide them with an introduction to gaming, and more particularly, iGames which have been designed specifically with the millennial as a target. 

     In conjunction with challenging technologies designed to draw the attention of the millennial, entertainment of the millennial in the form of nightclubs, fine dining and exclusivity are clearly required.  Sportsbar and corporate restaurants can play a part for the millennial dollar and interest but, it is apparent that fine dining, exclusive dance clubs, live entertainment and themed establishments which cater to specific tastes, e.g., cigar bars, are also required to bring the millennial to any entity whether it includes gaming or can be complementary to iGaming.

- Joseph J. DiDonato