Las Vegas hosts many different conferences and conventions each year, but few have as big an impact on the area as the Global Gaming Expo, or G2E.
It draws thousands of casino industry professionals to the Strip for three days of meetings, trade shows and more.
Tony Batt with GamblingCompliance calls the trade show the "Super Bowl of the gaming industry."
He told State of Nevada that anyone who is anyone in the industry, from around the world, will be in Las Vegas for the expo.
But what exactly happens at G2E, and what will attendees expect to see there this year?
"The hot topic -- at least for me -- this year is sports betting," Batt said.
The Supreme Court is looking at a case out of New Jersey that could lead to legalized sports betting around the country.
Another important topic at this year's expo is likely to be daily fantasy sports betting.
"Right now, fantasy sports is on hold basically," Batt said. "There has been progress in some states to legalize fantasy, but if sports betting expands, I would think that would have a significant impact on the future of fantasy."
Batt believes people would rather bet on the real thing in a sportsbook than on a fictionalized team.
The attendees of G2E are likely to also be talking about tribal gaming. Congress is considering looking at the law that legalized gaming on Native American land in 1988.
Batt said tribal gaming is a $30 billion a year industry, with gaming revenues greater than Nevada and New Jersey combined. He said that Native American tribes with casinos are strongly opposed to any changes.
"They are bound and determined to fight that tooth and nail if Congress makes any attempt to amend it," he said. "And the response from those who want to amend it is: hey, this is a 30-year-old law -- we have a duty to look at it and see if it needs to be updated."
Batt said those three topics are just the beginning and the conference will address dozens of more issues of importance to the industry.
"G2E is held every year to bring people up to date and make them current on what’s going on within the industry," he said.
Tony Batt, GamblingCompliance
