NIGA Tradeshow sets record with 7,000 attendees

July 23, 2021 7:04 PM
  • Buck Wargo, CDC Gaming Reports
July 23, 2021 7:04 PM
  • Buck Wargo, CDC Gaming Reports

With pent-up demand from tribes and even commercial operators looking to acquire new equipment and technology, the National Indian Gaming Association estimates that a record-breaking crowd of 7,000 attended its Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention in Las Vegas, which brought the gaming industry together for the first time since the pandemic just as COVID-19 cases are starting to rise.

Story continues below

The crowd at the four-day conference was buzzing on the floor of the new Caesars Forum convention hall Wednesday and Thursday when the tradeshow portion of the conference took place. Vendors said they were surprised by the size of the crowd, with tribes coming in greater numbers from the Midwest and eastern U.S. The conference also drew commercial-gaming operators looking to meet with vendors, rather than waiting for the Global Gaming Expo in October in Las Vegas.

The crowd totaled 6,955 and conference chairman Victor Rocha was beaming as the event wrapped up Thursday afternoon, a week after he wondered if rising COVID-19 infections across the country would dampen attendance. Clark County Commissioners late Wednesday imposed an indoor mask mandate for employees and mask usage picked up Thursday at the conference, especially among vendor staff.

The crowd size topped attendance the last time NIGA held its convention in Las Vegas in April 2018, according to Rocha, who added that it gives Indian Country a sense of pride. The convention hosted important tribal leaders from California to Florida and many small tribes attended, he said.

“It’s about being in Vegas, but people have also been chomping at the bit to get back to business,” Rocha said. “The fact that we were the first gaming trade show in the world had a lot to do with it. Everyone I talked with said it’s so good to be back and see everybody here. They were excited to be making deals. People wanted to do business unlike anything we’ve done before. It was exuberant.”

Due to the pandemic, Rocha said there was built-up demand among tribes that hadn’t upgraded slots, technology, and other equipment and were looking to meet with vendors.

“Also, we led the conference with sports betting and that was a main reason; that’s what’s happening across the country,” he said. “It’s important that we educate our tribes and our members on the opportunities and mobile betting.”

Rocha said he “was ahead of the curve” last week when he announced there would be mandatory mask wearing at the convention, a move he said was later rescinded by NIGA. Native American tribes are vaccinated at a higher rate than the rest of the country, so that helped with the comfort level of attendees, he said.

Gene Johnson, executive vice president with Victor Strategies who came to the event from New Jersey and moderated education panels, said the convention showed how important it is for people to meet face to face to see the latest products available.

“Everybody had a lot of trepidation,” Johnson said. “Back in May, we were worried this wouldn’t come off. The response has been tremendous and numbers have exceeded our expectations. It’s one of the best NIGA conferences ever.”

Mike Day, founder and executive officer of TribalHub, which will be holding its information technology-focused convention for tribes in November in Dallas, said he could feel the energy from vendors and the crowd at the trade show. He believe that his convention could also be its best attended ever as more tribes open up to travel by November.

“People were happy to reach out and shake a hand rather than do an elbow bump,” Day said of the Las Vegas convention. “Mask wearing was as it should be. If they felt they needed to wear one they did, and there was no issue. The vast majority — ninety out of a hundred people — were happy to just walk the floor. A great percentage of them were fully vaccinated and thought it was a safe environment.”

The event was held the same week as the Reservation Economic Summit at Bally’s and Paris and that helped to bring more tribal members to Las Vegas, Johnson said. It made up, at least in part, for people unable to attend from Europe because of travel restrictions.

“It’s been a perfect storm of the country reopening,” Johnson said of the conference. “There is some concern about the Delta variant (of COVID) and other variants out there and worrying about being in close space, but all in all, the vibe has been one of resurrection. This is not a timid recovery. What I’ve heard from people on the floor is they’re making plans to provide a legacy and sustainable future for generations of descendants.”

“The first day of the trade show was the best first day ever by far,” said Joshua Corrick, chief commercial officer with chairmaker Gary Platt. “It’s comparable to the buzz you get at G2E. “The second day of NIGA, which is usually a big slowdown compared to the first day, had significantly more traffic than previous second days of NIGA.”

Corrick said they got orders on the floor they’ve never gotten at the trade show in the past. That shows the amount of frustration accumulated during the last 16 months to reboot their casinos and lives, he said.

The trade show had more tribes from the east coast than Corrick said he’s ever seen. With G2E coming in October, less than three months from now, the NIGA show shouldn’t have been this successful, but he said it indicates tribes’ intentions to do things for their customers and get back to normal.

“I wish there was another NIGA next week and I hope the trend keeps up,” Corrick said. “I expect G2E to be fireworks upon fireworks. People should be prepared for some long days and long nights.”

Dave Kubajak, senior vice president of operations, sales, and marketing at technology transactions company JCM Global, said prior to the show, everyone was nervous about the pandemic. That changed Wednesday when the trade show kicked off.

“We had more customers than we expected,” Kubajak said. “A lot of customers we talked to made last-minute decisions to take the chance, and come out to Vegas, and catch up with everybody in the industry. I was pleased by that, because we were already full and having people show up you don’t expect is always a good thing.”

Attendees were decision-makers who said their casinos are doing well, so they have money to spend and asked what they couldn’t do without, Kubajak said.

“One CFO of a large group came in and said, “I like this and I like this and I like the other. Bundle them together and we’ll do business. Getting that kind of feedback after the last eighteen months is so refreshing. The vibe has been tremendously upbeat.”

Kubajak said he was stunned when a corporate executive at Penn National unexpectedly came in at the last minute.

“We asked, ‘What made you decide to come?’ And he said, ‘I’ve been buying slot machines that I haven’t seen in real life for months,’” Kubajak said. “‘I wanted to see what I’m writing these checks for.”

Jon Hanlin, a senior vice president of commercial strategy and business analytics at slotmaker Aristocrat, said there was a greater mix of tribal and non-tribal customers than he’s seen in the past, including Las Vegas commercial gaming partners.

“The customers are super-engaged,” Hanlin said. “We didn’t know what to expect, but it felt very normal with a big rush of customers. They wanted to hear about bonuses and when games are coming out. It gives me a lot of confidence about G2E. We’re ready to have a coming-out party. Walking around the booths of our competitors, they’re getting geared up for that too.”

Darren Simmons, executive vice president and FinTech business leader at Everi, noted a lot of enthusiasm and great traffic. During the COVID-19 “pause,” a lot of senior leaders took a long look at their businesses to address gaps and examine new technologies and solutions, he said.

Everi is a provider of land-based and digital-casino gaming content and products, financial technology, and player-loyalty solutions, and there was a lot of interest in cashless gaming solutions and other products.

“They came here to get product updates even with G2E a couple of months away,” said Dave Lucchese, Everi’s executive vice president of sales, marketing and digital. “We’re tracking for a positive G2E as well, though we have to expect we won’t get international travelers until we’re a little healthier.”

Ken Bossingham, senior vice president of sales at IGT, said having an in-person event after most employees have been working virtually for 16 months has made the show even more exciting. He said attendance among western tribes was strong as expected, but he was surprised by such a strong showing from tribes in the central and eastern regions.

“People were dying to get out and see what’s new and exciting in this space,” Bossingham said. “They’re trying to figure out what their go-forward plans look like. It was hard to do virtually. There’s never been a time in our industry where people are more open to accepting cashless technology.”

Matt Wilson, group gaming CEO with Scientific Games, said it was great to see familiar faces and make new connections at the show.

“Together, we celebrated how far we’ve come over the past sixteen months, while recognizing our valuable partnership with tribal gaming,” Wilson said. “I particularly loved seeing our customers’ reactions to our new games and products. Scientific Games is building exciting momentum with a great team, new vision and innovative products. It was truly exciting to share that story face to face this week.”

Gasser Chair Brand Development Manager Jesse Potter said they, too, were pleased with the traffic flow, considering the pandemic and its impact.

“We heard from people who had a lot of projects put on hold because of the pandemic,” Potter said, “and now those projects are moving forward the fourth quarter of this year and early next year.”