Pollstar Live! 2020: Betting On Live In The Casino Business

“Years and years ago the casino business was different. We were the loss leader. Come to the casino and see Lou Rawls,” Brill said as he moderated a Pollstar Live! panel discussion entitled, “Betting on Live: The Renaissance of Entertainment at Casino Properties.”

“Things changed, the business changed and now they are building terrific venues around the country, brand new venues,” he said. “The venues are getting better, the people are getting better, the acts that play casinos are getting better.” 

Not all of the acts are musical, though, as psychics, podcasters and others have proven to be popular draws in the casino setting, according to Brill and a panel that included Seth Shomes, head of the music and non-traditional touring at UTA’s casino division; Dan Pferschy, director of entertainment at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif.; Paul Davis, vice president, entertainment/booking and development, MGM Resorts; Live Nation Talent Buyer Billy Conn; C3 Presents Casino Division Director and Promoter Andrew Blank; and CAA Music Agent Jay Byrd.

The panel members probably booked 2,000 shows in the last year, Brill said.

In terms of what’s working now and where things are heading, the panelists seemed to agree that non-traditional acts are fertile territory.

“It’s amazing the growth that we’ve seen just in the last four to five years in what casinos will book,” said Shomes, who credited C3 and Caesars for helping to push “the boundaries of trying to find that casino gambler that was 25 to 35 to 40 as opposed to a casino gambler that was 55 plus.”

From rock bands, to Snoop Dogg, to podcasters to psychics, “I just love the fact that it feels to be a real blossoming time for entertaining in casinos. There is no longer a stigma about what can or cannot be in a casino,” Shomes said.

Pferschy said Agua Caliente is looking at bringing in Broadway shows as research has shown it’s what its clients want, while Davis said eSports, podcast producers, including the “My Favorite Murder” true crime comedy podcast by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, which was booked into the Park Theater in Las Vegas, have drawn well.

“I definitely had to look it up, I’d never heard of it,” Davis said. “Put it on sale, zero ad dollars spent and 5,000 tickets (sold). Just unbelievable. So it’s pretty cool seeing some fresh different things.”

Conn said that Live Nation has had success with podcasts, agreeing that they sell out with no ad spending, and that Tyler Henry the Hollywood Medium has also drawn well.

 

“We’re working with Caesars and just opened up RuPaul’s (Drag Race Live!) on the strip,” he said. “And then, who knows? Maybe holograms next.”

Blank agreed that non-traditional acts such as YouTube stars are “the big push right now.”

“Those are selling really well for us,” he said, adding that buyers are wise to “stay on top of a lot of the TV show things that are out there, the ones that are produced well.”

Blank also said all-ages entertainment seems to be growing in popularity, naming acts like Kesha and The Killers as having broad appeal.

“I think what you are seeing is that new wave of casino gamer,” Byrd said, adding casinos are going to be “incubators of new talent.”

Blank said market research, data and analytics are playing an ever-growing role in booking decisions and he’s excited about the potential of Google DEMAND as a tool to help casino clients to figure out “what makes sense for a lot of these rooms.”

In answer to a question from Brill about the importance of the venues themselves in the booking of casino shows, Byrd said it can be determining factor, though not always.

“One of the things that we’re tasked with as agents is making sure that we’re providing the best experience not only for the fans but for our clients, the artists,” he said. “When we’re faced with a room that was actually built with the acoustics and proper proscenium theater, that was built for music, versus, you know, at times a multi-purpose room that will probably be a bingo hall the minute we clear out the stage… not all the time, but oftentimes, the better venue will secure the artist.”