Examine the structure of the casino industry. What has been the effect of the changing industry structure on U.S. casinos?

For well over 50 years the casino business had been on a roll, on its way to becoming a $160 billion–a-year global industry. For much of that period, the United States had been leading the charge, accounting for nearly half of the global gambling revenues as recently as 2010. Most of these revenues came from Las Vegas and Atlantic City, which had become magnets for gamblers from around the world. However, Las Vegas and Atlantic City had had to deal with increased competition from other locations, including waterfront casinos in over a dozen states, Native American gambling locations, and, most recently, overseas casino development in places like Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Australia. Other sites in Asia, such as Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka, were in development as well.

In the U.S. there was a growing tendency to regard casino gambling as an acceptable form of entertainment for a night out. A large part of the growth in casino revenues came from the growing popularity of slot machines, yet facilities in Las Vegas, especially, had spent billions on extravagant and luxurious properties meant to attract the “high rollers” who came often and spent large amounts of money. Las Vegas casinos had tried to move beyond gambling and offer visitors many choices for fine dining, great shopping, and top-notch entertainment. This allowed higher-end casinos to generate revenues from activities other than gambling. Las Vegas, the city, was trying to brand itself as a tourist destination, but would that be enough to stem the flow of Chinese high rollers to Asian destinations? U.S. casino operators were expanding to open facilities in Asia or engage in mergers and acquisitions in an attempt to cash in on this local business, but would it be enough to return significant revenue to U.S. firms? Was there enough demand to go around?