Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | January 2011 8 Cover Story The uniquely intimate Bon Jovi performance stood in marked contrast to the U2 stadium concert held in Sydney earlier that week, crammed with an estimated 100,000 people. It is also typical of the outstanding entertainment experiences Mr Mullin delivered during his time at the Borgata, and plans to feature on an ongoing basis at Star City. As Mr Mullin explains, “our biggest business is gambling. And the type of offering that gets people excited about that and what I’ve seen around the world is people look for entertainment. If it’s only about the gambling, the gambling could get boring. We want to offer a diverse product offering, so that people have many different things to do while they’re here.” At the Borgata, Mr Mullin arranged top-notch entertainment experiences “to draw people from New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., where they have many different kinds of entertainment—sports, live entertainment, Broadway; all types of things that give people the opportunity to have great experiences. So we needed to get something that was very compelling that allowed you to see nightlife, restaurants and these big shows coming in regularly, that you might see at Madison Square Garden or in Philadelphia or Washington on a touring concert. We would bring that in a much smaller, intimate venue, and you have your weekend or midweek night out to go to a nice restaurant, go see a show, maybe enjoy the spa. And the gambling, obviously, was another form of entertainment that was the only entertainment before we spent US$1.7 billion [at the Borgata].” The Borgata investment was a hefty one, but it clearly paid dividends, and Mr Mullin believes the same will hold true for the planned investment by Tabcorp’s Casinos Division in its four properties. Mr Mullin believes the investment in upgrading Tabcorp’s four casinos will easily be recouped by helping to increase the Casinos Division’s 20% share of the Australian VIP market (with the rest going to Crown).That market amounted to A$24.7 billion in rolling chip volume in the twelve months to June 2010. “It’s a very profitable segment that we don’t get our fair share of, both domestically as well as internationally. The [Australian] VIP market has been growing at about 12.5% per annum for the past five years, and it’s a market that’s still continuing to grow at double digits. We believe with this type of product we’ll give ourselves a better chance to grab some market share. And I believe in the Rendering of expansion of Jupiters Hotel & Casino on the Gold Coast Bon Jovi played an intimate concert for 2,000 of Star City’s most valued customers on 15th December Actor and comedian RobinWilliams headlined the 25th anniversary celebration for Jupiters Hotel & Casino on 3rd November