TRAVEL-TOURISM RESEARCH ASSOC - 2018 MARKETING OUTLOOK FORUM

TRAVEL-TOURISM RESEARCH ASSOC.
     2018 MARKETING OUTLOOK FORUM

LEGALIZED SPORTS BETTING
  AND ITS IMPACT ON TOURISM

       October 23, 2018 – Las Vegas, Nevada
             DMO Researchers Roundtable

“NOT EVERYTHING             Tom Van Hyning
THAT COUNTS IS              Tourism Economist & Data
                            Analyst
COUNTED; NOT
                            Mississippi Development
EVERYTHING THAT IS          Authority
COUNTED IS WORTH            tvanhyning@mississippi.org
COUNTING.”

   - ALBERT EINSTEIN

WEST VIRGINIA PRODUCES TOP-NOTCH
        FOOTBALL COACHES

          Nick Saban, born in Fairmont, W.V., graduated from
          Monongah High School and Kent State University. He is
          5’6. His 12-year record at Alabama is 140 wins, 20 losses
          (.874) and five national titles. His 2003 LSU Tigers were
          NCAA champions.

          Jimbo Fisher, born in Clarksburg, W.V., attended Salem
          College in W.V., and then Samford University in
          Birmingham, Ala. He was Saban’s assistant at LSU. His
          coaching record at Florida State University was 83-23 (.783)
          with a 2013 National Title. He coaches Texas A & M.

          Lou Holtz, born in Follansbee, W.V., coached Notre Dame
          to the 1988 National Title. He also coached at the
          Universities of Arkansas (1977-1983) and South Carolina
          (1999-2004).

GEORGIA AT NOTRE DAME, SEPT. 9, 2017
      SOUTH BEND, INDIANA

PROFOUND SPORTS BETTING QUOTES

“Now,” he declared, “I can starting betting legally instead of using a bookie.”
           - Ricky Henrad, at Gold Strike Casino, Tunica County, Mississippi,
                                                 Wednesday, August 1, 2018.

“What we offer here,” added David Tsai, president and Chief Operating
Officer, Gold Strike, “is the same as what we offer in Las Vegas.” August 1,
2018.

“We’ll be here more now,” one customer declared. “We do this in Vegas,
but…it’s easier when you can drive two hours.”
    - Robert Newton, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at Gold Strike Casino, Tunica
                                       County, Mississippi, August 1, 2018.

                                             Source: Memphis Commercial Appeal, on-line version
                                                           August 1, 2018, 5:43 p.m. Central Time

SPORTS BETTING OVERVIEW

Mississippi became the fourth state—joining Nevada, New Jersey and
Delaware—to allow sports betting (8-1-2018). This was exactly 26 years to the
day when Mississippi’s first state-licensed casino opened on the Gulf Coast.

Patrons in Mississippi casinos can now make bets on every Major League
Baseball (MLB) game, or any NFL game, in addition to college football…and
on future odds, e.g., Tennessee had 50/1 odds to win the 2018 SEC football
title, pre-season, but this would have been a BAD BET.

Mississippi legislators passed legislation for legalized sports betting in 2017,
before the Supreme Court’s May 2018 ruling, striking down: Professional
and Amateur Sports Protection Act.

SPORTS BETTING OVERVIEW

Nevada is not the only state to permit legal sports betting. Nevada Sports
gambling = $248.8 million, or 5.1 percent of $4.87 billion wagered, CY 2017.
Other states are getting into the action.

Delaware moved to offer single-game betting on different sports at three
casinos, June 5, 2018. New Jersey sports betting became legal June 11, 2018.
First bets were made at Monmouth Park, June 14. FanDuel’s first sportsbook
at the Meadowlands opened its doors, July 14, 2018. Pennsylvania is moving
towards sports betting.

Two casinos owned by MGM Resorts booked their first sports bets in
Mississippi (MS), August 1, 2018. Additional casinos came on board Sept. 1.

REALITIES AND TRENDS TO CONSIDER

 New Jersey’s three casinos and two racetracks took in $40.6 million in
 wagers, July 2018, the first full month sports betting was legal.

 West Virginia gaming officials announced the completion of sports betting
 regulations, June 2018. Their law includes a provision to allow for both in-
 person and online sports wagering…

 Mississippi’s sports betting law does require in-person wagering.
 Mississippi’s Gulf Coast casinos have seen a September 2018 increase in
 patrons from Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia, who appear to be avid
 football fans/bettors. Tunica casinos (near Memphis) had a relatively
 stronger September 2018 than the past decade.

REALITIES AND TRENDS TO CONSIDER

 Mississippi’s state-licensed casinos gross gaming revenues (GGR) increased
 7.8 percent in August 2018, versus August 2017. There were five (5) Fridays
 in August 2018; four (4) in August 2017. For the record, FY 2018 (July 2017 –
 June 2018) versus FY 2017 (July 2016-June 2017) GGR at all casinos = flat.

 Still too early to tell what will transpire in Mississippi BUT in the short-term,
 anecdotal developments show a broader age group, including millennials,
 doing sports betting at pertinent Mississippi state-licensed casinos.

 Tunica County casinos needed a boost after a decade-long slump,
 competition from West Memphis, Arkansas…

REALITIES AND TRENDS TO CONSIDER
 Mississippi is the first state with legal sports betting in the Southeast college
 football hotbed.

 Louisiana (LA) still has a prohibition on sports gambling. A LA state
 senator noted “Louisiana casinos will lose business, and the state will lose
 gambling revenue to Mississippi and other states that jump into the sports
 betting game.”

 Penn National Gaming’s VP of public affairs and governmental relation—
 which owns Hollywood Casino, Bay St. Louis, MS, stated (May 16, 2018):
 “Sports betting could be another amenity at our properties and help
 generate additional visitation as well as drive incremental state tax revenue.

COOL/VIBRANT LONGER TERM GOALS
MS Gaming Commission’s Executive Director opined: “The success of sports
betting is going to be up to the casino industry and will depend on how well
they market this product.”

MS Gaming & Hospitality Association’s Executive Director: “Mississippi’s goal
in sports betting is to enhance our state’s visitor numbers and hospitality
spending. We see sports betting as positive… Competition has been fierce…
Offering a new entertainment dimension on the gaming floor that drives
tourism is a good thing…Visitors to our casinos will see something they have
never seen before and will want to make sure they return. The gaming industry
brought in millions of visitors last year and we want more. We believe sports
betting will do exactly that.”

ELVIS FOLLOWS TOM’S FOOTSTEPS:
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA (2016)

TOM VAN HYNING
TVANHYNING@MISSISSIPPI.ORG