GAMING: Headlining casino acts are music to fans’ ears

When Wayne Newton comes to your town, you know you’ve arrived as a gaming destination.

Newton is among the many big-name performers who have taken the stage at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort since it opened in summer 2004. Local fans of stars like Brooks & Dunn, BB King and Tony Bennett have only had to make the short trip over the bridge to see their heroes in action.

Not long after, though, there was another option. Seneca Niagara Casino opened the Seneca Events Center along with its hotel in early 2006, and soon the likes of Jewel, the Goo Goo Dolls and Damon Wayans were performing on this side of the border.

So one has to wonder, are these two gaming giants looking next door at what the Joneses have? The Seneca Gaming Corp. denies worrying about what the other guys are doing.

“Adding a large-scale entertainment venue was always part of the plan when Seneca Gaming Corporation first started designing our 26-story luxury hotel,” Phil Pantano, Seneca Gaming spokesman, said via e-mail. “While our industry is a competitive one, our goal is simply to provide our patrons the best possible experience and service they can enjoy ... we want to keep our facility fresh and exciting irrespective of what other facilities may or may not be doing.”

The casinos may not compete with each other for acts, but customers are another story. Fallsview officials did not return calls seeking comment for this story, but a 2005 interview Business First did with Larry Lewin, general manager of Fallsview and nearby Casino Niagara, revealed the importance of concerts. Lewin estimated that upwards of 75 percent of concert attendees make their way into the gaming hall after a show.

“The idea is to create a unique entertainment environment where people feel comfortable and want to come back,” he told Business First.

Regardless of whether the casinos are dueling for acts, having two venues bringing in entertainment is good for us as well as them. Many of these performers have been displaced in Western New York since Melody Fair shut down in North Tonawanda, and theaters such as the Riviera in NT and the Palace in Lockport lack the glamour and drawing power that would be required. If a venue like the Darien Lake Amphitheater is too big, they at least now have a place to play locally.

While many of these performances command upwards of $100 per ticket, giveaways are offered to certain casino patrons. The Seneca venue, meanwhile, offers a free outdoor concert series each summer.

A Crosby, Stills and Nash show might not make or break a casino’s profit margin, but entertainment can’t hurt the cause. Seneca Gaming Corp. saw its net revenue jump 16 percent to $449.2 million for fiscal 2006, according to Business First, a number likely at least marginally helped by hosting more concerts.

So no matter how you view the situation, both the casino operators and the folks who get to see their favorite singers live are left saying “danke schoen.”

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The World Poker Tour’s North American Poker Championship, filmed in October at Niagara Fallsview Casino, will debut at 9 p.m. May 9 on the Travel Channel. The show will be rerun at midnight May 10 and May 12.

The event was won by amateur player Soren Turkewitsch of Oshawa, Ontario, netting him more than $1.3 million in his first-ever tournament.

Contact Paul Lane at 693-1000, Ext. 362, or lanep@gnnewspaper.com.