Exhibitors: Gaming expo business steady despite economy

Amanda Finnegan

The American Gaming Association reported a 7 percent drop in attendees at this year’s Global Gaming Expo yet several exhibitors called it a successful year. G2E 2008 featured more than 750 exhibitors in 335,000 square feet of exhibit space at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

By Amanda Finnegan (contact)

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008 | 7:25 p.m.

Despite a drop in attendance, gaming technology exhibitors said they mostly had a successful year as the Global Gaming Expo came to a close Thursday evening.

The American Gaming Association reported a 7 percent drop in attendees at this year's conference, which organizers attributed to companies cutting costs, including travel expenses. G2E 2008 featured more than 750 exhibitors in more than 335,000 square feet of exhibit space.

“Although our attendance was down, we heard from exhibitors that they were very pleased with the number of decision makers they have spoken with,” AGA senior vice president Judy Patterson said.

Several exhibitors said casino companies sent key decision makers this year rather than the entourages they have sent in previous years in an effort to save money.

Despite the economic hardships facing the industry, Bally Gaming chief executive officer Richard Haddrill said G2E 2008 was the company’s most successful year at the conference. Bally -- unlike the profit declines widely recorded in the gaming community -- notched a 26 percent increase in revenue for the third quarter.

"All three days there was more on-the-floor activity than any other year,” he said. “I think it’s our products and also the people who are attending are decision makers who are really interested in the buying versus perhaps in the past that people have been coming to enjoy the show rather than really doing the work."

Ed Rogich, vice president of marketing for International Gaming Technologies, the world's largest gaming manufacturer, also noticed the change in those who attended.

“Attendance may have been off but the quality of the customers was on par,” he said.

IGT chief executive officer T.J. Matthews said Wednesday in a keynote address that his company is reevaluating business plans in the economic downturn, especially when casino developers are pulling out of projects.

“It’s a challenging environment out there for us and our customers, but that won’t stop IGT from growing and helping generate revenue for our customers,” Rogich said Thursday.

Exhibitors with Konami Gaming, a smaller Las Vegas-based manufacturer, said the event was successful despite the decline in attendance.

“We certainly have seen a reduction of traffic on the floor but we have had more traffic in the booth than in years past,” Konami director of marketing Ross O’Hanley said.

O’Hanley said in some ways doing business has been easier with fewer attendees on the floor.

“Sometimes it's harder to do business when you’re coming from a property with a large group and you want to walk them around, you can’t really get down to the business you need to be doing at the show," he said.

This year’s expo focused heavily on the economic crisis affecting the gaming industry. AGA held sessions throughout the week to give insight to casino companies and manufacturers on how to deal with the downturn.

“Hopefully they learned some financial strategies to weather this storm,” Patterson said.

AGA will now turn its focus to the third annual G2E Asia, a trade show geared toward the growing Asian gaming market, which will be held at the Venetian in Macao in June 2009.