Surveys on Casino Gambling

The Harrah's surveys provide a good deal of information about casino gambling.

According to Harrah's survey, at least one person from 32 percent of U.S. households gambled in a casino during 1996, and there were 176 million visits to casinos.

This represents an increase of 354 percent compared to the 46 million visits in 1990.

During the period 1991-96, visits to the 'traditional' venues of Nevada and Atlantic City increased by 71 percent, while visits to the 'new' venues (riverboats, Native American reservation casinos, and casinos in South Dakota and Colorado) increased by 471 percent.

Clearly, the increase in the popularity of casino gambling reflects the increased ease of access and availability created by the expansion of these 'new' venues.

Not only has the number of visits to casinos increased, the number of visits per household has also grown. The Harrah's survey reports that the average number of trips per household to casinos was 4.8 in 1995 compared to 2.7 in 1990.

The Harrah's surveys also revealed interesting regional patterns in casino gambling.

Between 1994 and 1996, the south and the north central regions of the country had much larger increases in the number of casino visits than did the western and northeastern regions.

In the South, this reflects the growth of riverboat and Native American reservation casinos.

The relationship between proximity to casinos and casino visits can be illustrated by looking at the states and cities that serve as the main 'feeder markets' for casinos.

Feeder market refers to a geographic area (city, state) from which casino visitors come. The term is used by casino marketers to identify the places from which casinos are attracting visitors.

In 1996, the top ten casino feeder states (in rank order) were California and Illinois (close to Nevada casinos and Illinois riverboats, respectively), Louisiana (close to Louisiana and Mississippi riverboat and dockside casinos), New York and Pennsylvania (close to Atlantic City), Texas (close to Louisiana riverboat and Dockside casinos), New Jersey (close to Atlantic City), Wisconsin (proximity to Native American reservation casinos), Nevada, and Minnesota (proximity to native American reservation casinos).

The top twenty feeder cities also show a clustering based on proximity to available casinos. Although one would expect large cities such as Los Angeles and New York to be important casino feeders, others in the top twenty list are surprising.

In particular, Mobile, Alabama, Pensacola, Florida, and Green Bay/Appleton, Wisconsin, are comparatively small population centers.

Their inclusion in the top twenty feeder cities underscores the significance of proximity and availability of gambling facilities to gambling participation.