After major merger, IGT returns to Vegas and unveils ‘new’ look at G2E
The debate at G2E about prediction markets took a backseat briefly to celebrate the 3-month-old merger between International Game Technology and Everi. IGT was born in Las Vegas and grew to gaming industry elite status during the two decades when it was headquartered in Reno.
Nick Khin took center stage at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) last week, even with his role as interim CEO of the reconfigured IGT ending in a few months.
To mark the return of the gaming equipment provider’s corporate headquarters to Las Vegas after a 10-year absence, the company was feted by the Vegas Golden Knights cheerleaders and Drumbots at the entrance to its trade show space. Khin posed for photos with Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley and gave a $10,000 check to Mondays Dark, a Las Vegas-based charity.
He enjoyed the limelight and the attention heaped upon the company for bringing the IGT name back home to Las Vegas.
In roughly two months, Khin will hand the CEO’s chair over to former Aristocrat Gaming CEO Hector Fernandez, who is finishing out a non-compete clause in his former employer’s contract.
Just before the July 4 holiday, IGT merged with rival casino equipment provider Everi Holdings. Hedge fund giant Apollo Global Management paid $6.3 billion to take the two companies private and merge them under the IGT name, which has historical ties to Nevada dating back to the late 1970s.
The newly combined company had less than 100 days to showcase more than 250 games in its 24,000-square-foot booth at G2E — the gaming industry’s largest marketplace held annually in Las Vegas. Casino operators use the show to purchase a large swath of their new equipment that will land on gaming floors in the following year.
Khin, who will become CEO of IGT’s gaming division once Fernandez arrives, quickly brought top management together to plan the G2E presence. One idea was to create a new slot machine to symbolize the merger.
At the front of the booth last week was the 11-foot-tall Wheel of Fortune Cash Machine Jackpots. The game took themes and mechanics from each of the companies’ signature games — IGT’s Wheel of Fortune and Everi’s Cash Machine Jackpot.
Khin said it's expected to be on casino floors early next year.
“Both companies learned lessons from previous mergers,” Khin said. “We made sure to sort everything out. We didn’t want confusion, and we wanted the sales side ready to make sure customers knew exactly who they were dealing with.”
Playing up the IGT’s ties to Las Vegas, where it was founded in 1979 by the late Si Redd, was not an accident. The company went public in 1981 and moved its headquarters to Reno, where the late Chuck Matthewson oversaw the transformation of IGT from a small gaming machine manufacturer into the industry’s worldwide standard-bearer.
In the late 1980s, IGT secured the rights to the popular television game show Wheel of Fortune and created a slot machine based on the program in partnership with rival Anchor Gaming. The game has been a staple in casinos worldwide for three decades.
IGT left Nevada in 2015 when the company was purchased by GTech, an Italian lottery giant, which took on the IGT name but moved its headquarters to Rome. IGT maintained a sales and marketing office at its former headquarters, which had been sold. IGT also maintained its manufacturing facility in Reno.
With the merger complete, the company will use the former Everi headquarters in southwest Las Vegas, which will also house marketing and sales offices.
Khin will eventually become one of three division presidents, joining his IGT colleague Gil Rotem, who is CEO of digital, and former Everi executive Darren Simmons, who is CEO of the company’s financial technology operations.
“We truly are a one-stop shop with our portfolio of products and services,” Khin said.
Government shutdown leaves fix for gaming tax deduction in limbo
Industry leaders at G2E said efforts to reverse a controversial change in the tax code concerning gaming were generally supported, but hitting a roadblock amid the ongoing government shutdown.
“There's good, bipartisan, bicameral acknowledgement of support for fixing this,” said Chris Cylke, who oversees government relations for the American Gaming Association. Cylke was referring to language in July’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that reduces the amount gamblers can deduct from their winnings from 100 percent to 90 percent of their losses. The change takes effect next year.
Cylke said with partisanship “at an all-time high, I don't think anybody can tell you what kind of vehicles may be able to get this fixed.” In July, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) committed to raising the percentage back to 100 percent.
Robert Stoddard, a taxation expert with national accounting firm KPMG US, said the issue affected a small but very vocal segment of high-value casino customers. “If we don't get a legislative fix, this is going to be a real challenge for land-based casinos,” he said.
MGM’s Hornbuckle: Las Vegas had a ‘rugged summer’ but isn’t broken
MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle sought to alleviate concerns about the Strip’s financial health during an opening day keynote session at last week’s G2E. Las Vegas had experienced a nearly 8 percent decline in visitation this year.
“I don't think [Las Vegas] is broken in any way, shape or form, and I look forward particularly to this convention by pushing us to the next step,” Hornbuckle said. “We remain bullish on Las Vegas fundamentally.”
Hornbuckle, whose company operates 10 Strip resorts and large conference facilities at MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay, added, “The next 16 months are going to be the best convention months the city has ever had or ever seen.”
Saying Las Vegas has had a “rugged summer,” he blamed much of the downturn on diminished visitation from Canada and Spirit Airlines’ bankruptcy, which caused the once-No. 2 air carrier at Harry Reid International Airport to see a 32 percent passenger decline this year.
Aristocrat unlocks the G2E vault for its Monopoly slot machine
The giant silver Scottish terrier near the entrance to the G2E trade show floor was the first sign that slot machine developer Aristocrat Gaming wasn’t going to let the reconfigured IGT monopolize all the attention.
Aristocrat used the show to unveil the company’s new slot machine based on the popular board game Monopoly. The game was hidden behind a vault in the company’s booth until it was unveiled on the trade show's opening day.
Slot machines based on Monopoly have been on casino floors in the past, but Aristocrat CEO Craig Toner said the company’s slot developers told Monopoly license owner Hasbro the century-old game would be “reimagined” for casino customers. The company handed out Aristocrat-themed Monopoly player tokens to all visitors to the booth. The large Scottie was a nod to one of the game’s long-standing tokens.
“It’s a globally recognized and iconic brand,” said Toner, who became the company’s top executive last December. “We believe what we’ve done is provide the innovation to a game that has universal appeal and has meant a lot to so many people.”
Toner said the competition in the slot machine sector — IGT’s merger with Everi and Light & Wonder’s growth — helps drive Aristocrat’s efforts to attract a loyal customer base.
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🏀 Macau is becoming more than a gambling destination. Casinos are winning big anyway — Contessa Brewer, CNBC
Las Vegas Sands President Patrick Dumont talks about NBA basketball games in Macau and the casino market’s resurgence.
♠️♦️ Judge shuts down California tribes’ latest bid to crush their casino rivals — Ryan Sabalow, CalMatters
California card rooms won the latest battle in determining if tribes should have exclusive rights to offer Las Vegas-style gambling.
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