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For decades, the gaming floor was the draw. Now US casino operators are wagering that restaurants, sports bars, concerts and other amenities will pull a new generation through the door, because slot machines and card tables no longer do it alone.
Companies nationwide are pouring money into non-gaming attractions, hoping to give Gen Z — a generation raised on mobile betting apps — a reason to show up in person, according to Bloomberg News.
A generation that bets from the couch
Gen Z gambles more than Gen X or baby boomers, but rarely inside a casino, a 2025 TransUnion survey found. Many prefer online sportsbooks such as DraftKings and FanDuel, or prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, placing wagers from home rather than a casino floor.
That shift is forcing operators, particularly in regional markets, to rethink what draws people through the door. Jennifer Weissman, chief marketing officer at Penn Entertainment, said younger visitors want experiences that extend well beyond a phone screen. They’re looking for something “social and community-oriented,” she said.
Penn Entertainment’s new Illinois showcase
Penn Entertainment has already put that philosophy into practice. Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora, a $360 million property near Chicago, opened in June, replacing a riverboat casino that had operated on the Fox River since 1993.
The 388,500-square-foot property pairs a retail sportsbook with more than a dozen restaurants and bars — including one from celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis — plus a wellness spa, a 226-room hotel and an event center built for concerts and other live bookings.
Other operators are following suit. Jordan Bender, a gaming equities analyst at Citizens, said many companies are shedding what he called a “gross and smoky” image in favor of amenities he likens to “mouse traps” — reasons to spend money on-site whether or not a guest ever sits down at a table.
Casinos have always used entertainment to keep people spending, but those attractions are increasingly becoming the main reason younger visitors show up at all.
Younger crowds are reshaping Las Vegas too
Las Vegas reflects the same pattern. Younger visitors spend less time on the casino floor and treat a trip more like a night out built around dining, live shows and sports viewing.
Nathan Peak, president of HBG Design, which has worked on more than 15 casino renovations since 2020, said the question guests ask has changed: it’s no longer “let’s go gambling,” but what will make for a good night out.
Lakin McLaughlin, 28, visits the Hard Rock Casino in Bristol, Virginia, about once a year — mainly, she said, because it’s “one of the only things to do” in her friend’s town, not because she craves the slot machines. Older visitors, she noted, often sit for hours chasing a high she doesn’t share.
Gaming floors keep shrinking nationwide
That shift is remaking casino floor plans. Gaming space at a typical regional casino has fallen from roughly 60% of the property to about 40%, with the rest going to restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues, according to HBG Design.
Steve Cohen’s Queens bet barely touches gambling
Nowhere is the trend more visible than at Metropolitan Park, the Hard Rock casino and entertainment complex New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is developing next to Citi Field in Queens. Gaming will occupy just 10% of the site; the rest is set aside for roughly 25 acres of public parkland, a live-music venue, athletic fields and a food hall built around local vendors.
Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP Architects, which helped design the project, said the goal was an “authentic sports and entertainment district” rather than a casino surrounded by parking.
Amenities redefine the gaming industry’s bottom line
Other operators are chasing a resort feel instead. Gun Lake Casino Resort in western Michigan added a spa, pools, a swim-up bar, a 16-story hotel and a light-filled atrium last year. Smoking has also grown rarer on casino floors nationwide, driven by state laws and lingering post-pandemic expectations around indoor air quality.
Penn Entertainment’s own numbers suggest the strategy is paying off: revenue from dining, hotels and other amenities has claimed a growing share of the company’s business in recent years, according to regulatory filings cited by Bloomberg News.
The company is also relocating its Boomtown Casino and Hotel New Orleans off its riverboat and onto adjacent land as part of a $195 million project, rebranding it Hollywood Casino New Orleans. The roughly 140,000-square-foot property, pending regulatory approval, is expected to open in 2029 with a sportsbook and several dining options built in from the start.
Weissman said online casinos and sportsbooks are introducing people to betting earlier than ever, forcing operators to rethink who their customers are — and who they’ll need to be next. As more gambling moves online, casino companies increasingly see their physical properties as entertainment destinations rather than gambling halls.
Winning over younger visitors, it seems, will depend less on the number of slot machines on the floor and more on whether a casino feels worth an evening out.
