Slidell Casino Forum with St. Tammany Parish Chamber of Commerce
Convergence Strategy Group’s Suzanne Leckert participated in a recent forum hosted by the St. Tammany Parish Chamber of Commerce to address community concerns about the proposed Camellia Bay Resort Casino in Slidell, Louisiana. Ms. Leckert discusses the potential impacts of this resort casino development on the community. Watch the video here: Community Impact Assessment Discussion…
PODCAST: How it all happened in Danville, Virginia
When the State of Virginia legalized casinos for five economically distressed cities last year, Danville was the only city that went through a request for proposal process to find a developer for a casino in that town. The city hired Convergence Strategy Group to handle the process, which just ended with the city choosing Caesars…
City of Danville, Virginia Selects Caesars Entertainment
The City of Danville, Virginia has selected and is in negotiations with its preferred casino gaming operator, Caesars Entertainment. We applaud the leadership and hard work of Danville’s Mayor, City Council, City Manager, previous and Interim Directors of Economic Development, and numerous City staff in achieving this milestone for the community. In March 2019, the…
Analytics · Casino · Development · Economics · Integrated Resorts · Online Gaming · Planning · Uncategorized
G2E Presentation: Demographic and Psychographic Analytics
On Thursday, October 17, 2019, Convergence Strategy Group Managing Partner Suzanne Leckert and Tribal Gaming Services’ Joseph Witterschein led a discussion on Understanding Your Customers Through Demographic and Psychographic Analytics at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. This important event for the gaming industry attracted nearly 30,000 attendees, including commercial and tribal casino…
Illinois – New Gaming Opportunities for Everyone (to Get Cannibalized?)
Earlier this month, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation that paves the way for a major expansion of gaming in the state. Slots at racetracks and airports, new casinos in six new cities (including Chicago), as well as sports betting proximate to large stadiums around the state will all add to the existing gaming landscape…
Progress Toward Integrated Resorts in Japan
Just returned from yet another Japan Gaming Congress. Things seem to have progressed somewhat slowly since last year’s Congress, but as compared to last year when prognosticators were all over the board as to when integrated casino resorts would ultimately pop up in Japan (2024-2030), there didn’t appear to be much variance this time around…
Online Elephant in the Room
By: Suzanne P. Leckert, AICP The second article in Suzanne Leckert’s series discussing online and mobile sports betting for iGaming Business North America: Since my last article for iGB North America in August 2018, sports betting fervor in the United States has only increased. To date, 32 states (probably more by the time this article…
Asia · Casino · Community · Development · Economics · Europe · Fisher · Integrated Resorts · Japan · Mobile Gaming · Native American · Online Gaming · Planning · Sports betting · Tax · Uncategorized · United States
Reflections on Our First Year in Business
Nothing can truly prepare you for some of life’s major milestones. First job, first house, first child, first start-up . . . At Convergence Strategy Group, we are celebrating one year in business and I’m taking a moment to look back on where we started, and the lessons learned on the way. I have learned…
On-Site or Online Sports Betting?
I had the honor recently to speak at the Spring Conference of the International Masters of Gaming Law held in New Orleans. The conference included two full days of thought-provoking and informative discussions of the most pressing legal issues for the gaming industry worldwide. My panel entitled, “UIGEA, the Wire Act, the Indian Gaming Regulatory…
Life-Long Learning (or what I’ve learned recently)
Keeping up with the latest research, trends, and technology can be exhausting in any industry. From time to time, I am guilty of allowing myself to get so busy with work, that continuing education is put on the back burner. However, I’ve managed to fit in some really interesting in-person and online training courses over…
NFL – Now would be an oxymoronic time to be trying to ask for a sports betting Integrity Fee
I need to preface this by saying I’m a Saints fan who was in the Superdome when their season came to an abrupt end, so I’m particularly bitter about the NFL right now, as are many sports fans along the Gulf Coast. To the extent that, for the first time in decades, I won’t be…
Casino · Development · Economics · Mobile Gaming · Online Gaming · Planning · Sports betting · Uncategorized · United States
Sports Betting Success Indicators: Consumer Behaviors
Fresh off the heels of some great discussions on sports betting over the weekend, I’ve put together a few quick graphics that shed some light on the potential for the legalized sports betting market. Utilizing proprietary consumer behavior data, with the Gulf Coast as an example, the above maps demonstrate: For each variable, these maps…
Asia · Casino · Community · Development · Economics · Europe · Fisher · Integrated Resorts · Japan · Native American · Planning · Sports betting · United States
A Few of Our Favorite Things . . .
At Convergence Strategy Group, we are a team of lifelong learners. We are always seeking more information, better ways of doing things, and insights from across the globe. In the spirit of the holidays, Convergence Strategy Group would like to share a few of our go-to online resources – a few of our “favorite things”…
The Path Toward Sports Betting for Native American Tribes
If you read the news, it appears that the entire United States gaming industry is obsessed with sports betting. Hungry for new product offerings and approaches, operators see the potential that sports betting has to produce new revenue streams. Sports betting and iGaming are very popular with players and largely profitable for operators across the…
Chinese Gamers – A Commodity Hit by the Trade War?
Following through on campaign promises, Donald Trump started announcing new tariffs on Chinese goods in early 2018, with tit-for-tat additional tariffs announcements on goods from both sides ever since. Both countries have actually experienced some economic growth as a result of the trade war, largely due to desires of businesses to increase output and trade…