Q+A: JAN JONES BLACKHURST:

Former Las Vegas mayor discusses the future of gaming

Former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones Blackhurst speaks during a Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce Business Power Luncheon at the Rio Wednesday, May 8, 2013. She was honored with the chamber’s Free Enterprise Award. Jones Blackhurst is executive vice president of communications & government relations for Caesars Entertainment.

When former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones Blackhurst began working at Caesars Entertainment about 15 years ago, it was a very different company.

Then known as Harrah’s Entertainment, the company had just moved its headquarters from Tennessee to Las Vegas, so it was, in many ways, the new kid on the block. Since then, Jones Blackhurst has seen Caesars expand dramatically. It’s now a corporate giant on the Strip and in the broader global casino industry.

As executive vice president of communications, government relations and corporate responsibility, Jones Blackhurst is responsible for growing the company’s corporate philanthropy work. Her achievements recently earned her a 2015 CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Professional of the Year award from PR News.

Jones Blackhurst recently spoke with VEGAS INC about Caesars’ corporate social responsibility and other gaming industry issues, including the bankruptcy restructuring of Caesars’ largest operating division.

Why is corporate philanthropy and social responsibility important?

When you really make philanthropy a business principle and not a nice-to-have but a must-have core to your business strategy, it changes the way you approach citizenship.

Our employees are a big part of our corporate responsibility, as well. Our employees give back tens of thousands of hours every year in philanthropic work and volunteerism in the community. So it becomes something that every tier of the organization embraces, from the executive suite all the way down through the entire company.

I think that’s what really differentiates us — that this is core to our culture. It’s who we are, it’s how we think about our world and our communities. Right now, we’re going through the one division that’s restructuring, and it still hasn’t changed who we are and how we give.

Online gaming hasn’t done so well in Nevada and New Jersey. What do you think is missing that would make it a success?

In Nevada, only poker is legal. And with a population of 3 million, you just don’t have the liquidity to make that a particularly viable game. People like lots of players; that’s what makes playing poker fun.

In New Jersey — and I think this is a really important distinction — the regulators there really wanted to make sure that consumer protections worked, that they could control geolocation and that they could keep players outside of New Jersey off the Internet. So they dialed the degree of difficulty of getting online very high, because they wanted to make sure that when they really did go live in a broader way, when they said they regulated it, that in fact that was the case. And that is the case. So I think you’ll now see that market start to grow.

Also, you had to get the banks and the credit card companies and others to feel comfortable supplying credit for the games. So I think it’s a process, but I truly believe that the gaming industry, like any other retail entertainment industry, if you don’t have that Internet channel, you’re going to begin to impede your growth.

Is Caesars doing anything to push back against the latest Congressional effort to ban online gaming?

Yes, we’re watching that. We think it would be a huge mistake and a disservice to the industry.

It does nothing to impede illegal play, which is rampant in the United States today. More than $2 billion or $3 billion worth of illegal play takes place all the time, it’s just there’s no benefit to the United States and there’s no protections for American consumers.

Where do you see Caesars casinos in a decade?

One of the most important changes the industry is going to have to make is the type of games offered on slot machines. The slot machines we have today just are of no interest to a younger demographic.

You’re going to see continued evolution of hospitality offerings. And younger customers care about the standards corporations set for themselves. We already do it, but I think everyone’s going to have to see that’s really important to attracting the customers of the future.

What will slot machines look like in the future?

I don’t think they’re solitary. I think they’re games players can play in groups, the same way they play games in groups now. I think it’s entirely different icons. I think it’s much more game-oriented than necessarily just watching numbers spin. It’s more interactive, it’s less solitary, it’s more social.

What is happening during the legislative session in Carson City this session that you have your eye on?

Money for education. If we don’t fix our education, if the Legislature doesn’t see that the future of the industry is in the quality of our workforce and invest in education, then the industry is going to have an issue. It’s time.

So you support the governor’s tax proposal?

Yes, I do. Strongly.

The beauty of the governor’s tax proposal is it’s a broad-based tax. So everybody, all businesses in Nevada, share in the cost of education.

For a long period of time, the biggest funder of all of the general fund has been the gaming industry. We’re happy to pay, because we’re a big corporate citizen, but we think everyone should care about education.

The governor’s tax proposal is very fair. We’re happy to pay our fair share of that.

How does Caesars plan to grow, and does the bankruptcy muddy that up?

Oh, I don’t think it muddies it up at all. I think it just slows it down.

We’re still looking at different projects and legalization in Asia. There’s still Internet poker legislation in other states. So I see growth opportunities for both the industry and for Caesars as a company.

How is your work affected by the restructuring of Caesars Entertainment Operating Company?

From a broad communications perspective, it’s very important that customers know we’re open for business and there will be no impact whatsoever on the level of service or the entertainment they receive while we’re in the restructuring.

It’s also very important that our employees feel confident that the same applies to them, working with vendors and others, so there’s a high level of comfort and people know what’s going on so they can continue to provide the service or come to us for entertainment in a very normal manner.

If I’m an employee at one of the casinos that’s part of the bankruptcy, should I worry the casino might not be owned by Caesars at the end of the bankruptcy?

It might not be owned by Caesars, but I think very likely it would be managed by Caesars.

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