Free Play and Loyalty
With online casinos, land-based casinos, and sweepstakes casinos all competing for loyal players, casino management comes up with incentives to reward players for choosing their casino over others. For that reason, many casinos provide new and loyal players with no deposit bonuses like free chips and free spins that allow players to play free for a certain amount of money or time.
Since the pandemic, record revenues have been seen by U.S. casino operators, as well as sportsbooks and sweepstakes casinos. All of that competition leads to a question. What do players need to ensure they keep coming back?
There’s a long-standing belief that casinos need to give players free chips and free spins or risk losing them. Does free play make a casino less appealing to players? Or, does it help boost a new player’s interest? A recent study by the University of Nevada Las Vegas took a closer look at this.
What the Study Found
Over time, studies of free play offers found that a higher offer didn’t guarantee loyalty. In fact, smaller free-play offers tended to have the highest conversion of new players to loyal ones. Larger offers didn’t fare as well.
The team of researchers decided to take this research a step further. The group randomly selected 400 casino players who were used to getting $15 in free play every week. The players were divided into four groups of 100 players each. One group kept getting $15 in free play, but the other three groups started receiving no free play, $5, or $10. The study then started and ended almost 18 months later.
With all 400 players, they had net winnings of $60 to $74 per visit, but players who started getting $5 or $10 a week visited as often as they had been. Those who got nothing did visit less often but did not stop completely, and this time researchers believed it was due to thought processes that the offer had simply been eliminated.
The outcome of this study suggested that smaller free play offers can be more enticing than larger ones. Casinos may not need to spend as much of their profits to keep players coming back.
What Does Convert a New Player to a Loyal One?
It’s becoming apparent that the most generous casino free play bonus isn’t the thing that keeps players coming back. So, what does convert a new player into a loyal one?
- Amenities
- Location
- Security
Three things stand out when it comes to gaining player loyalty. The amenities and features offered by a casino are important. If it’s a land-based casino, players prefer casinos where everything is in one spot. There is something for children or teens to do while parents or guardians have fun in the casino. When it’s time for a meal, players don’t always want to drive miles to find a restaurant. A discounted or even free hotel room is also appealing.
Another important feature is casino security. Read the news and there are cases where someone is attacked inside or outside a casino. People are there to have fun not to risk their safety as they play table games, Bingo, or slots.
Finally, location is extremely important. If a person is on vacation, they want to be in the heart of the action. Locals may prefer a casino that’s in a more remote area away from tourism traffic. Knowing how to market to the right group is crucial for casinos today.