In 1955, an article released by Lifestyle Magazine claimed that the gambling industry was about to end. The article was titled “Las Vegas – Is Boom Overextended?” and it talked about how the present generation during that time was ruining the gambling industry.
It said, “A new breed of visitor is showing up… to enjoy the good rooms, food, and shows but – and this is where it hurts – not to gamble. This new generation, the largest in the history of the world, clearly doesn’t have their parents’ and grandparents’ propensity for gambling. Now there are major international pop-culture media announcing that these kids are more interested in bars, music, and entertainment. A generation raised in the high-tech world of gadgetry could not have the attention span to gamble like their greyed elders.”
At that time, the boomers were known as the largest generation, but right now, it is expected that the millennial population will surpass the boomers by 2019. Just like how millennials are today, boomers also didn’t seem to enjoy gambling in casinos at that time in 1955.
Today, the boomers are actually the ones who are more likely to gamble than any other generations. Meanwhile, millennials only have gambled on the latter part of their list when they were surveyed on how they want to spend their money on leisure.
This is why many now believe that the millennials aren’t really the problem. It’s the age that they are in. In 1955, the boomers were about the same age as the millennials of today. The age range of millennials right now is 20 to 35 years old.
This is the age range of people who are still trying to make money. They’d rather save than spend. At least this is still true for some millennials. Another factor to be considered is the unemployment rate of millennials today.
Millennials are known to have the highest unemployment rate of all generations. By 2020, however, it is expected that half of the work-force worldwide will be millennials. This just means that they’ll be busy at work and wouldn’t have much time for leisurely activities.
This also means that more boomers will have time for leisure as the majority of them will more likely be already settled and retired. Based on a survey, boomers have gambling as part of their top 10 must-do for leisurely activities.
Now, despite the fact that millennials seem to be uninterested with gambling, many casino operators are now finding a solution to this. The CEO of one of the biggest slot manufacturers said that they will have to turn their games into something that is skill-based as this could make slots more attractive to the younger generation.
Casino operators simply have to find a way to attract more millennials or younger generation, in general, to spend money on casino games. This is what’s happening to the industry nowadays. Both land-based and online casinos are continuously improving the games that they offer in different ways.
Immediately, people can notice how different the graphics are of online casino games to how it was back then. The game of slots just looks different and it now has many varieties that some can consider modern and pop.
Many slot machines, both online and not, are now based on popular games, movies, and shows that the younger generation appreciates. You can easily find a slots game that suits your interest. Dungeons and Dragon, Jurassic Park, and Ted are few popular varieties of slots that made use of popular characters.
Aside from the characters, many online casino games are in adventure form. Playing slots is no longer as simple as hitting the spin button. Decision-making and strategizing can now be applied to the modern game of slots.
What’s really fueling the thought that millennials are the reason why the gambling industry is ending is the fact that people travel less to gamble. It could be because of the digital age. It’s also simply expensive to travel to land-based casinos like the ones in Las Vegas.
In fact, the number of Las Vegas visitors has dropped 15 percent and the revenue that they get from gambling also dropped 35 percent. The visitors of Las Vegas are now after jobs and travel experience rather than just the casino experience.
However, despite the issues that the gambling industry is facing, there’s just really no solid proof that millennials are causing the trouble. In fact, it’s most likely that only land-based casinos are struggling, and it isn’t really because of the millennials or the younger generation.
People are just really turning to mobile gaming, including gambling online. It’s simply much more convenient to play real money games anywhere they are. There’s no need for traveling and it’s truly a cheaper way to gamble.
