Positioning a new London show for casinos

The new casino exhibition – the London Casino & Gaming Show – will act as a standalone boutique event for the land-based sector, says show chairman Martin Burlin.

Co-hosting with the long-established EAG 2025, the Entertainment, Attractions & Gaming Expo Europe at London’s ExCeL, LCG is presenting itself as a ‘pocket-sized taster’ for the giant ICE, recently vacating the same venue for a Barcelona date a week later.

LCG and EAG are set for January 14-16, while the big international casino show is opening its doors the following week, January 20-22.

The movement of ICE from London to Barcelona has opened the door for the smaller EAG to host its own casino event, mirroring the creation of ICE itself as a part of the bigger ATEI in the 198Os.

The amusement show, owned by trade association BACTA, as ATEI once was, will this year welcome bricks-and-mortar casino operators through its doors alongside the arcade, FECs and AGCs of Europe.

“We are not attempting to run a show for the internet gambling industry,” said Burlin, “which will make LCG a much more bijou event.”

LCG show ambassador Nick Harding explained the positioning of the show vis-à-vis ICE: “In our research into the possibility of running a casino event, we found that some casino operators wanted London as a venue. We also found many that would welcome a smaller, quieter event where they didn’t have to walk long distances from one supplier to another.

“Some North American operators, for example, have welcomed the chance to come into London a few days ahead of Barcelona.”

Show director Nicola Lazenby told us that her sales team had already scored some significant successes in recruiting exhibitors for the show. “There is a nucleus of companies that have the majority of their business only among UK casinos,” she said, “and coupled with the other points made by Nick, it combines to give LCG an appeal of its own.”

Of their location, Lazenby said that there would be seamless access between the two shows at ExCeL; they would be complementary  and run alongside one-another. “There is a natural and growing overlap between the amusement industry and the gambling business, particularly at the ‘softer’ low-stakes end and you will have seen a great many EAG visitors in the corridors at ICE in recent years.”

Taking up the theme, Harding  said: “We are responding to demand. There is a significant number of people who want a London event for casinos and we have every intention of providing it with a home alongside our established EAG event and allowing it the room to grow so that it becomes very much a European event focussed on the bricks-and-mortar casinos.

“It isn’t positioning itself as an alternative to ICE, but rather as a supplementary event; if you like a kind of hors d’oeuvres for Barcelona.

“And for those who seek sunshine in January, it is worth pointing out that Barcelona in January is only, on average, four degrees warmer than London!”