Slot makers hit jackpot with show cancellation

David Strow

Monday, Feb. 11, 2002 | 11:02 a.m.

Slot machine manufacturers universally applauded Friday's news that two rival Las Vegas trade shows will merge this fall.

The American Gaming Association and partner Reed Exhibitions announced Friday it had acquired the assets of the World Gaming Congress & Expo from GEM Communications. The World Gaming Congress will be folded into the AGA's new trade show, the Global Gaming Expo (G2E).

The World Gaming Congress, founded more than 15 years ago, became the annual forum for slot manufacturers to show off their newest products to the gaming industry.

G2E was created last year after the AGA and GEM, former partners in the World Gaming Congress, split in 2000. Slot makers expressed delight there wouldn't be a repeat of last year's events, where competing shows were held two weeks apart in Las Vegas.

"I think it will be beneficial to the industry as a whole, both nationally and internationally," said Bob McMonigle, president of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers and executive vice president with International Game Technology. "Last year, a lot of people were confused about what show to attend, and Sept. 11 made it worse. Everyone will be much happier, and it will certainly be a much larger show, much more meaningful to the exhibitors and to the participants."

When the AGA and GEM broke ranks, AGEM endorsed the AGA show. Most slot manufacturers followed, but a few slot makers, including Alliance Gaming Corp. and WMS Gaming, exhibited at both shows.

That was an expensive and time-consuming undertaking, said Marcus Prater, vice president of marketing for Alliance's Bally Gaming & Systems.

"We had some good business reasons for doing both, but I can't say we were necessarily happy about it," Prater said. "We felt international customers ... and Native American (customers) would support World Gaming at some level. We were thrilled with what we had at World Gaming, partly because we had the show to ourselves ... but we knew we weren't going to do it again."

GEM saw this trend developing, and it helped spur the decision to sell, said Charles Anderer, vice president and group publisher for GEM.

"This competitive posture was never something that was good for our business," Anderer said. "Our expectations for the show were reduced, because we didn't have the support of the AGA, the AGA membership and AGEM. With those fundamental issues in place, it was very difficult to mount a successful trade show, obviously."

But the damage could have spread beyond the World Gaming Congress. GEM publishes 12 gaming industry publications, including IGWB and Casino Journal, and several trade shows, including the American Gaming Summit in Las Vegas and the Southern Gaming Summit in Biloxi, Miss. (The American Gaming Summit begins today at the Bellagio.)

"The core advertisers of our publications are the very exhibitors who went to G2E," Anderer said. "We were essentially competing against our own customers, which is not a good idea for any business."

Now, the two companies will once again be collaborators. AGA will support the two major GEM trade shows, and IGWB and Casino Journal will become official publications of G2E.

Pressure had been building from slot manufacturers for the split to be resolved.

"It's been something we've been working on for a year, trying to get G2E and the World Gaming Congress together," McMonigle said. "It makes no sense for anyone to have two shows a year."

But Frank Fahrenkopf, chief executive of the AGA, said this didn't play a major role in the AGA's buyout.

"Because some of them were our members, and they clearly didn't want that duplication, it was a factor, but not a major factor," Fahrenkopf said. "My answer is, 'You're not placed in any conflict.' The free market is the free market, and you had to make a choice."

Though slot makers like the move, the loss of the World Gaming Congress could have an effect on Las Vegas' convention business. World Gaming Congress was to have been held at the Las Vegas Convention Center Oct. 22-24.

"(The World Gaming Congress) would not rank among the largest by Las Vegas standards, but a show of that size would rank among the largest shows for a lot of cities," said Rob Powers, spokesman for the LVCVA. "Obviously we don't like to lose a piece of business, but if there's a window to bring in another piece of business, we'll start working on that immediately."

There's also the potential for a bigger G2E Sept. 17-19 at the Convention Center, Powers said, softening the blow for the city.

Fahrenkopf's already predicting that will happen, saying he expects this year's G2E will rival the 2000 World Gaming Congress, which saw more than 20,000 attendees.

"It could be the biggest we've ever had," Fahrenkopf said.