A two-day conference — Esports & Casino Resorts — slated for this fall in Las Vegas will be an educational opportunity for the commercial gambling industry.
“The path to successful esports casino integrations is starting to come into focus,” John Caldwell, parnter with Narus Advisors, said.
“At Esports and Casino Resorts we’re going to have focused discussion led by experts that will help bring even more focus, and provide a blueprint for success in this quickly developing area.”
Esports & Casino Resorts, at a glance
The event is being put on by Narus Advisors and Global Gaming Business. It will take place on Oct. 25-26 at the SLS in Vegas as a part of a seminar series called Naruscope.
The intersection of esports and gambling has been a hot topic in 2016, from the rise and fall of betting on skins to record-breaking events. An event was held in London just on esports betting in the spring, although the opportunity for casino resorts lies beyond that.
“The esports events we’ve run with our casino venue partners have far exceeded our expectations and taught us a lot,” Caldwell said. “Most notably, the events have confirmed our prior theory that esports fans show up in droves, and bring a fresh new customer dynamic to the property.”
Narus and Eilers and Krejcik Gaming recently put out a revised report on esports and gambling, including projections into 2020.
In 2016, Narus estimates that $5.5 billion in money and items will be wagered around popular esports titles, with that number expected to rise in the coming years.
Topics at Esports & Casino Resorts
The event will cover pretty much every angle of how casinos can benefit from the explosion in popularity of esports, such as event hosting, understanding the esports fan, and esports on the casino floor.
Panels include:
- Answering the common concerns casinos have about esports
- What esports games are the best fits for the casino resort environment?
- Esports architecture: Fitting esports into the casino floorplan
- How regional casinos can position themselves for esports success
- Bringing esports to the sportsbook
- Bringing esports to the casino floor
- Keys to hosting a successful esports event
- Indian country and esports: An opportunity for innovation
- Esports and casinos: A regulatory perspective
A complete program is available here.
Who will be at the esports event?
Attendees are expected to run the gamut in the casino and esports industries, for anyone interested in tapping into the potential overlap of the two markets.
Speakers are pulled from a diverse pool of experts and executives, including:
- Tobias Sherman, Global Head of Esports, WME | IMG
- Nick Allen, Director, Esports Operations at Twitch
- Rahul Sood, CEO, Unikrn.com
- Steve Arhancet, Co-CEO / Owner, Team Liquid
- Seth Schorr, CEO, Fifth Street Gaming, Downtown Grand
Legal and regulatory experts, as well as casino and esports analysts, will also be featured on panels.
Roman Kosolapov / Shutterstock.com
