Reno gambles on bettors who enjoy the outdoors
By Scott Sonner
Associated Press
RENO, Nev. — It was heresy not long ago for a Reno casino owner to encourage gamblers to pry themselves away from the slot machines and enjoy the great outdoors.
Associated Press
But a growing number of business and community leaders here say the key to weathering increased competition from tribal casinos in neighboring California is to promote hiking in the Sierra, rafting on the Truckee River and mountain biking at Lake Tahoe.
A kayaker makes his run on the slalom course in Reno's Wingfield Park. The course is part of a push for a 24-mile whitewater recreation corridor that would include a kayaking slalom course through downtown Reno.
The latest push is a 24-mile whitewater recreation corridor that would include a kayaking slalom course through downtown Reno.
Harrah's and Eldorado hotel-casinos have each agreed to match the city's $500,000, making available a $1.5 million loan to begin building the $22 million project this summer.
"For Reno to do this shows how Reno is changing. Reno is no longer a senior slots center," said Ferenc Szony, president of the Sands Regency hotel-casino.
"There is world-class skiing and mountain biking and golf courses. In 20 minutes travel time from any hotel, you can be fly fishing on the Truckee River in a secluded area," he said.
"If you gamble, you gamble. If you don't that's OK, too."
Pushing paddle sports
More casino executives now share that thinking primarily because market research shows it's no longer an either-or proposition.
The so-called paddle sports represent a "very desirable demographic," said Jim Litchfield, an avid kayaker who is a member of the Truckee River Whitewater Steering Committee.
"Our research shows it's the 25 to 54 age group, educated people, often someone with a family with a household income of $75,000 to $125,000 who is ready to spend money on recreation," he said.
Kayaking has enjoyed a 50 percent increase in the past four years and is ranked as one of the nation's five fastest growing outdoor activities among households with annual incomes over $50,000, along with cross-country skiing, canoeing, rafting and mountain biking, according to a report by the Outdoor Industry Association in 2002.
More than 33 million Americans now participate in whitewater sports, said Bruce Bommarito, executive director of Nevada's Commission on Tourism who is a former vice president at Caesar's Tahoe and worked at a casino resort in Biloxi, Miss.
"Gambling revenue is supported by all kinds of things — fishing, festivals, backpackers, river rafters. They all gamble, too," Bommarito said.
Marketing the outdoors
The state of Nevada and the Reno-Tahoe area have stepped up marketing the outdoors in recent years.
A $3 million statewide campaign launched a year ago touted Nevada as the "Wildest Adventure State in the Lower 48." The Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority has dubbed the Reno-Tahoe area "America's Adventure Place."
The theme was used to help lure ESPN's "Great Outdoor Games" to Reno this July. The chamber of commerce says the television exposure will showcase the area the same way golf's Reno-Tahoe Open has since landing a stop on the PGA Tour in 1999.
The Truckee River also has been the focal point the past eight years of July's "Artown" festival, featuring arts and cultural exhibits and performances. A park and amphitheater on a downtown island is the site of the whitewater park that would welcome rafters and inner-tubers, too.
Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, a former nightclub singer who performed in Reno casinos in the 1960s, predicts the park will bring international attention.
"It will be the only kayaking slalom course with an urban core. It will be a major, major shot in the arm economically. I think when we look back in two or three years, we'll see this as a key turning point."
Competition intensifies
Concerns about competition from tribal casinos have intensified in Reno over the past five years.
Fifty-one "Class 3" tribal casinos with slot machines operate in California, including the successful Cache Creek casino an hour west of Sacramento.
Tomorrow, the biggest threat to date opens at Auburn about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento — the Thunder Valley Casino, a $215 million, 200,000-square feet Nevada-style casino with as many as 2,000 slot machines and a 1,200-seat show room.
An industry consultant told the American Gaming Summit in Las Vegas in January that Reno is "the most vulnerable community in the United States" to the spread of tribal casinos.
"It will have great difficulties in maintaining its market share," said Steve Rittvo, president of The Innovation Group in New Orleans.
The verdict's still out on whether activities like a kayaking can attract enough outdoor enthusiasts to offset the expected drop in visitors from California, Eadington said.
"It is no silver bullet, but every little bit helps," said William Eadington, an economics professor who directs the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada.
