Paul Szydelko
It's too soon to know when the coronavirus pandemic will subside. But it's not too soon for casino operators in Las Vegas and around the world to plan ways to reduce the risk when they reopen.
Planning is essential, said Alan Feldman, a casino industry veteran who is now a distinguished fellow in responsible gaming for the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"If you have not put a change process in place, you'd better get to it awfully quick, because change is coming," Feldman said. "You're not going to open in the same way that you were. The very large companies are not going to be able to open every single property. The smaller ones are not going to be able to open every part of their property."
Feldman, who worked for MGM Resorts International for almost three decades, said in an interview April 13 that casinos will have to deal with "a very difficult demand picture over the next -- well, 12 months is a little bit optimistic; more likely, 24 months."
Before even the first dollar is wagered, of course, players must be assured that planes, airports, ground transportation, hotel rooms, entertainment venues and restaurants are aggressively addressing health-related concerns.
Casino operators must reconsider the basic rules of daily operations, Feldman said. "Cleanliness is obvious. How often cards get replaced. Whether or not there's some mechanism to clean them. Chips the same. And a very big question, and one that's on the minds of a lot of people around the world, are any number of different forms of cashless payment systems."
Checking patrons' temperature upon casino entry, increased spacing between players at tables and machines, requiring guests and casino employees to wear masks, even banning smoking could be considered, Feldman said.
What local, state and federal governments will require of casinos may have to blend with what consumers are willing and prepared to demand, he said.
"I have a feeling that you're going to find that consumers are willing to go further than government in the United States," Feldman said. "I have to believe that you would get very little pushback at this moment to having folks' temperature checked at the door. Is that going to be true in six months, 12 months, 18 months? I don't know. But I suspect early on that [temperature checks] might very well be seen as a confidence builder, that the environment that you're going into has another layer of protection."
Another confidence builder would be more conspicuous cleaning protocols. Casino cleaning has been traditionally confined to the wee hours of the morning when fewer players are inconvenienced.
"Customers are going to be perfectly happy to be interrupted right now," Feldman said. "Cleaning once a day is not going to work, and I don't think anyone should be shy about that. Being very open and transparent with the public about what you're doing and how you're doing it is going to be another one of those things that's going to build confidence that the environments are safe."
Nevada's mature regulatory structure and oversight make it a world leader in the gaming industry, but Feldman said there will be a lot of international communication about measures being taken and whether they working. Markets such as Macau, England, Canada and Australia are all at different points in the health crisis.
"Leadership to a certain extent has more to do with who goes first because they will have to make decisions in order to get open first. We don't know who that's going to be yet," Feldman said.
When casinos reopen, they should also be vigilant to stem problem gaming in a changed social and economic environment, Feldman says.
Feldman spearheaded the launch of GameSense, a program available at all of MGM's U.S properties that encourages players to adopt behaviors and attitudes that can reduce the risk of developing gambling disorders.
"The entire industry needs to be certain that players who are coming are here because they can afford it," Feldman said. "They can have some fun. It's a great way to get your mind off things for a little while. But that's all it should be, a brief escape, as opposed to someone who thinks they're going to rebuild their family fortune by placing it on red."