America’s casino gamblers will skew a lot younger once the industry reopens following the COVID-19 shutdown, at least initially, according to a new survey.
A new survey by gaming developers Synergy Blue asked 1,000 consumers – “specifically those who gamble” – how their approach to casino gambling has been altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey found that 51% of gamblers would return to casinos once the venues are allowed to reopen.
Of those who remain skittish about crossing a casino threshold, 58% cited economic concerns, while 47% expressed concern over how sanitary the environment will be and 41% simply didn’t feel good about being in a confined space with lots of other people.
Around one-quarter of respondents are waiting for the number of COVID-19 infections to fall dramatically before they’ll return to casinos, while 19% say they won’t return until there’s a vaccine that can eliminate the threat entirely.
Predictably, given the invincibility of youth and the demographics of COVID-19 fatalities, gamblers aged 29 and under were more likely (62%) to express a desire to resume casino visitation than gamblers over 60 (40%). Younger gamblers were also far less likely (47%) than their older counterparts (73%) to be drawn back to casinos by traditional slot games.
There is something of a self-serving element in these findings, as the Nevada-based Synergy Blue’s Hybrid Arcade Wager-based Gaming (HAWG) platform offers casinos a library of “arcade-style, skill-influenced games (or interactive electronic gaming machines), platforms, and applications” that are directly targeted at younger demos.
For several years now, so-called skill-based games have been touted as the next big thing, a way of attracting millennial consumers who view traditional passive slots play as flaccid entertainment for blue-rinse grannies. But despite the hype, the products have yet to really take off in US casinos.
At any rate, the survey adds weight to recent comments by MGM Resorts acting CEO Bill Hornbuckle, who said the company’s Vegas casinos would rely on ‘drive-in’ traffic until the country feels safe flying again. Only 22% of survey participants said they’d be willing to visit any casino that required air travel, while 41% said they’d only visit casinos they can drive to.
Online gambling expects a lasting boost from the pandemic, as 64% of respondents have gambled online (including free-play games) during the lockdown, despite one-fifth of respondents not having engaged in such activity pre-lockdown. Of those who gambled digitally, 93% said they’d continue doing so once their land-based options resumed.
