UNLV Casino Expert Says Bradley Theory Correct on Vegas Downturn

Historically, Las Vegas was a low-cost destination and only the gambling was expensive.

For most of 2008, Online Casino Advisory's senior gambling analyst, Sherman Bradley, has been advancing the idea that diversification in Las Vegas is as responsible for the city's lost revenues as the national economy. Bradley was the first to theorize that, by choosing gambling as just one of many income streams, casino operators lost the recession-proof quality the resorts had previously enjoyed.

Recently, the head of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas offered a similar explanation for the town's doldrums. Keith Schwer said, "Historically, Las Vegas was a low-cost destination and only the gambling was expensive. In more recent times, the price attractiveness of Las Vegas -- rooms, things other than gambling -- has increased. We may not seem as much of a price competitive destination as we were in the past."

As Bradley has noted, gamblers are still gambling. Casinos in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Louisiana are doing fine, among other places. Online gambling forecasts predict rapid growth in revenues.

Bradley says, "What has changed is Las Vegas. By taking features such as rooms and meals, that were used in the past by brilliant entrepreneurs like Benny Binion to attract patrons to the casino gaming floor, now are being squeezed to produce every drop of profit possible... and gamblers hate to be squeezed.

"If Vegas doesn't show the average guy a more luxurious time than he can have near home as a way to reward him for making the trip to gamble, he'll just stay home."

Only ten years ago, non-gambling revenues made up about forty percent of the total income for casino hotels in Vegas. Today that number is over sixty percent. Bradley says, "Until the operators bring that percentage back into line with the old days, the city will continue to suffer economic difficulties."