Gaming enjoying rebound

A rebounding economy is good news for northern Nevada’s gaming industry.

Carlton Geer, president and CEO at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, anticipates an “exuberant” economy and growth in gaming driven by Tesla and other technology companies coming into the area.

“This year (2015), we’ve beaten the state in terms of market growth,” Geer said.

In the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s most recent report, the gaming win for the state in October was down 2.85 percent compared to October 2014. In Washoe County, the win was up 6.44 percent.

Going into 2016, Geer expects a 2 percent growth in gaming in the region based on data gathered by Global Gaming & Hospitality, the management company for the Nugget.

“Gaming at its core is still an entertainment alternative,” Geer said.

“As entertainment dollars grow, we in the gaming industry will benefit.”

In the Downtown corridor, Eldorado Resorts, Inc., owner of the Eldorado Resort Casino and other holdings nationwide, is entering the new year with a major addition to its profile. Recently the company acquired full ownership of the Silver Legacy and Circus Circus casinos.

The three casinos, already linked by pedestrian skyways, will maintain their unique brands. The acquisition does creates new opportunities for marketing.

“Now as one company owning all three, we’ll market in a different way,” Gary Carano, chairman and CEO of Eldorado Resorts, told the NNBW last month. “Where can you go under one roof? There are nine blocks we control now. That’s a small little city in itself.”

Carano also sees good times for the gaming industry in northern Nevada as a whole.

“We’re trending up. These are exciting times we haven’t experienced in a longtime,” he said. “The local market is growing. The regional market is growing. In the wine country (where his father, Don Carano, founder of the Eldorado, has a winery), the economy is robust.

“These are Reno’s customers.”