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Detroit Casinos Revise Bus Marketing

"…The casinos pay to bring in the bus passengers, offering them free food, chips or a combination of both. Some also pay subsidies to bus companies.

"`We started offering cash the last few months,' Casino Windsor President Bobby Yee said. Previously, the standard incentive at the region's busiest casino was a $15 food coupon.

"…`Before competition, we didn't need to offer much,' Yee said. `As we moved into this permanent facility, we realized the volume of people we needed to make this work needed to rise, and we made adjustments.'

"As such, in the past seven years, the number of buses that Windsor hosts on an average day has risen from five to 40. Offering cash as well as food also helps alleviate bottlenecks at restaurants.

"…When patrons sign up for a slot club, they're issued individualized cards that, when inserted into slot machines, allow casinos to track gamblers' play and thus gauge effectiveness of bus and other marketing programs.

"…North of the border, MotorCity Casino has found itself in the same boat that Windsor once did. Individuals in the group buses weren't consistently using MotorCity slot cards, meaning data about their gambling habits got lost in the shuffle.

"…In late May, MotorCity suspended part of its bus program, partly because it was unprofitable and partly because it wanted to find a better way to track disembarking visitors' play, executives said.

"MotorCity had been giving subsidies of $2 an hour per person to the bus companies.

"…Under a future program, MotorCity might, for example, give the bus company $1 an hour and another $1 later if the bus riders have used their slot cards.

"Like Casino Windsor, MGM's bus program also requires visitors to sign up for its slot club.

" Meanwhile, Greektown Casino asks visitors to join, but doesn't require it. Greektown marketing executive Tom Willer figures half of the bus patrons join anyway..."

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