GGB Magazine April 2024 | Page 19

Some casino companies try to be everything for everybody . Be in as many jurisdictions as they can . Cross over to iGaming in a big way so they can touch their customers 24 hours a day .

Some casino companies try to do that and fail . Either they don ’ t understand the markets that they enter or they spread their expertise too thin so their bench gets depleted . Or they pay too much attention to the quarterly reports and lose focus on the long-term goals of the company .

Not Station Casinos , or more accurately , Red Rock Resorts , the name under which the company trades on the stock exchange . Station Casinos knows exactly what they are , exactly what they ’ re good at , and exactly who their customer is .

Those elements were clearly and definitively present when Station debuted the Durango Casino Resort in Las Vegas in November . The resort was the company ’ s first new property since it debuted its flagship Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in 2006 . Durango is part of the Station strategy to bank casino resort locations in Las Vegas , the company ’ s home and total focus . Scott Kreeger , the president of Red Rock Resorts , explains how and why the company has long-term plans for these sites .

“ This area where Durango is located , we felt was underpenetrated ,” he says . “ We ’ ve held this land for about 20 years , and we ’ ve been looking at the demographics and looking at the growth out here . It ’ s one of the fastest growing areas of the valley . The demographics are off the charts , and there ’ s really no competition within a five-mile radius . So from a business perspective , it was a great opportunity for us .” The property has opened to rave reviews from all concerned . “ From a customer feedback perspective , we ’ re overjoyed ,” he says . “ We always try to do something unique and different , property to property . We take the best parts of what we learned from the last property , and that was Red Rock , and then we kind of grow on that because we always want to keep our customers interested in what we ’ re doing .”

“ Development is my passion . Since I came back to the company we ’ ve got the best development story in the business , bar none . We own all of our assets . We own all of our land . And this goes back to us as a company being real estate junkies a long time ago .”

— Scott Kreeger , President , Red Rock Resorts

Sports Shorts

Kreeger says Station has refined its sportsbook offerings at Durango by making it much more of an experiential format .

“ Sports has been a huge piece of local gaming for years , and it still continues to be , although it ’ s morphed over time ,” he explains . “ On an NFL Sunday , it used to be that before 10 o ’ clock you had to be there to lay down your bets . Now you can do it with your phone . So that ’ s changed what we ’ ve done . We are the market share leader in mobile sports wagers in the city , and we ’ re proud of that . We have an incredible team . We used to have Art Manteris , who worked for us for years , and who is a legend in sports wagering , but he trained up some young guys that are the best in the business , and they ’ re aggressive .

“ Our race and sports book at the Durango has been a huge success , which will be the new model going forward . There ’ s a small over-thecounter area where you can get a ticket and bet on the games . We have many large-format screens , great seating areas , an incredible bar where you can play video poker or watch a game and have a beer , and then a really compelling food-and-beverage and entertainment component with it as well .

“ At Durango we have the George bar and restaurant , which is a partnership with Jonathan Fine , who owns the Parkway Taverns in town . We wanted to get a guy that understood the tavern restaurant business to do that . He ’ s been a great partner . We do over 2,000 covers on a Sunday in the restaurant . So not only is it a race and sports area ,

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