Penn National CEO Not Targeting Millennial Casino Visitors

One of the most-frequently discussed topics in the gaming world last year was millennials and their lack of gambling.

As we enter the New Year, there’ll no doubt be plenty of casinos catering to this demographic, which is in the 21-35 age range. But Penn National CEO Tim Wilmott and his casinos won’t be among them.

During a conference call discussing his company’s third-quarter earnings, Wilmott said that he’s more interested in focusing on the age demographic that brings in the most gambling revenue.

“It’s still 60% of our revenues come from customers between the ages of early 50s to early 70s, the heart of the baby boomers, and that hasn’t changed much,” Wilmott explained. “It’s obviously a little different in Las Vegas, which is huge younger for all the other entertainment options in that marketplace but in the regional set, it hasn’t changed.”

As Wilmott points out, millennials are an obvious concern for Vegas because they draw heavily from this demographic. But on the smaller, regional scale — where most of Penn National’s business lies — millennials don’t have as much of an impact.

Here’s more from Wilmott on where his company will be focusing their efforts:

“And as we look at – our focus over the next, say five to 10 years, I’m of the belief that focusing on in millennials is not going to produce good economic results. I’m more interested in the 50 million group of Gen-Xers out there that will be moving into the period of when they become more interested in casino entertainment that they have more disposable time and more disposable income as they pay up their mortgages and become empty-esters. So I think from my company’s perspective, our focus on Gen-Xers over the next 10 years will be more keen that it has been. Those are the ones they are going to fall into the sweet spot of who likes to be entertained with our offerings.”

What Wilmott says makes sense because land-based gambling revenue is still driven by Baby Boomers. And it’s easy to assume that Gen-Xers will be the next to spend big as they have more disposable income.

As for millennials and gambling, casinos are hoping to draw larger crowds with arcade-style gaming and skill-based slots. Whether this plan works or not remains to be seen because most millennials are interested in non-gambling entertainment.