Wednesday, January 08, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Summit will address Indian casinos, racinos

Bally Gaming Systems Marketing Events Manager Kathleen Driscoll sets up her company's booth for the seventh-annual American Gaming Summit, opening Thursday at the Rio. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

State red tape could shackle the gaming industry. Racetrack casinos could transform it. Indian casinos could soon dominate it. And the Internet could take it out of the hands of regulators who have controlled it.

These tough topics facing the industry will be the focus of the seventh-annual American Gaming Summit, which starts Thursday at the Rio.

The summit will be preceded by a sister event Wednesday, the Slot Manager Institute.

The two events will feature a heavy emphasis on American Indian casino initiatives and Wall Street's attitudes toward the gaming industry in 2003.

The luncheon keynote speaker Wednesday will be Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Marc Falcone who will raise the specter that state regulations are hamstringing industry growth and need reform.

"While state regulations are critical to maintaining the integrity of gaming, we believe changes are essential to help the industry grow faster than it is now," Falcone said.

Regulatory reform may prove essential to solid stock performance, he said.

"Look at Atlantic City and how long it took to approve cashless gaming. It was a year after Nevada, and Illinois still hasn't even approved cashless," Falcone said.

Misconceptions about the slot industry on Wall Street also are working against the industry, but manufacturers and operators are in the best positions for clearing them up.

The institute program features experts on issues facing slot machine executives and managers at large and small casinos.

Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, will open the main program for the gaming summit Thursday morning with a keynote address.

"I will focus on where the gaming industry is today and where it's going, and not just casino gaming," he said.

He plans to share national and Washington perspectives on key issues involved in the spread of Indian gambling, where tribes are seeking to expand, and racinos, which he called the hottest phenomenon in the industry.

The panel following Fahrenkopf will focus on the politics of gaming and feature former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan as moderator, staff members from Sens. Harry Reid's and John Ensign's offices, MGM spokesman Alan Feldman and Nancy Todd Tyner, president of political consulting agency Nancy Todd Inc.

It will focus on the prospects for new gaming jurisdictions and new forms of gaming, spawned by the 2002 elections and the fiscal crises facing state and local governments across the country.

Another panel led by William S. Boyd Law School Dean Dick Morgan will focus on creating ethical corporate climates in a "scandal-ridden era," focusing on executive and board responsibilities in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scandals and passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate responsibility legislation.

Other panel moderators will include: Harrah's spokeswoman Jan Jones, GEM Communications Vice President and Group Publisher Charles Anderer, The Innovation Group President Steve Rittvo, and Lionel Sawyer & Collins attorneys Tony Cabot, Bob Faiss and Ellen Whittemore.

Phil Satre, Harrah's Entertainment chairman, will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the industry dinner Thursday evening.

Deutsche Bank Securities is the exclusive investment banking sponsor of the 2003 summit.

Lionel Sawyer & Collins, GEM Communications and Casino Journal are presenting the program with the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.