Casino Business Up In ’08

While concert attendance at traditional venues may have flattened out in 2008, the American Gaming Association reports the live casino entertainment business increased 6.7 percent from 2007.

In a study and “state of the states” message from AGA President/CEO Frank Fahrenkopf, some 51 percent of all casino patrons took in a show, concert or other live entertainment in 2008, the second-highest non-gambling activity after fine dining.

The study also found that a majority of those polled consider casino gaming to be on a par with concerts, plays and sporting events in which participants pay for an entertainment experience.

However, the study also revealed that Americans still harbor a slight puritanical streak when it comes to gaming itself, with 43 percent saying it’s “perfectly acceptable for anyone,” down from a high of 57 percent in 2003. Thirty-eight percent responded that gambling is “acceptable for others but not you personally,” up from a low of 26 percent in 2000. Gaming is “not acceptable for anyone,” responded 17 percent of those polled, up from 14 percent in 2007.

The AGA report estimates that almost 55 million people hit U.S. casinos last year, ranging from commercial riverboat operations and state-compacted Indian gaming venues to Las Vegas-style resorts.