Investors at Caesars Entertainment voted against a proposal to launch a report into the potential cost-saving that may be raised by introducing smoke-free casinos. The company is looking to improve its land-based casino performances after seeing year-on-year revenues fall in Q1 2024.
The decision comes as casinos remain one of the few U.S. workplaces to allow customers to smoke. Most Caesars properties allow players to smoke on the casino floor and book hotel rooms that permit smoking.
The proposal reached Caesars Entertainment investors as health advocates raised concerns about the safety of these workplaces for employees across the industry. Caesars defended its current policy in a proxy statement released before investors voted, saying it has smoke-free casinos in seven states because those states prohibit indoor smoking. The company raised concerns that banning smoking may “risk alienating our smoking customers.”
In addition to Caesars, more hospitality companies are now considering smoke-free venues. Last month, smoke-free proposals at Bally’s Corp. and Boyd Gaming Corp. received 11.6% and 22.5% investor support, respectively.
These proposals were championed by the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation and Trinity Health, citing a 2006 report from the U.S. Surgeon General indicating there is no healthy amount of secondhand smoke exposure.
The Director of Advocacy at American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, Bronson Frick, assured investors that non-smoking casinos would still allow players to smoke on patios. He also emphasized the health risk to workers, saying, employees “struggling to make ends meet are having to make that choice between their paycheck and their health.”
Zivhas been deep in the iGaming trenches for over 20 years, long before most people could spell "geolocation compliance." With a background in marketing and business development at some of the biggest names in gambling tech, Ziv knows the industry from the inside out. Since joining Covers, he's turned his sharp eye (and sharper keyboard) toward everything happening in the fast-moving world of online gambling. Whether it's new state launches, the latest twists in regulation, or what the big operators and game providers are cooking up next, Ziv breaks it all down with clarity, context, and just the right amount of snark. He covers the business side of betting, from affiliate trends and revenue reports to the tech powering your favorite slots. His motto in writing is “let’s make it make sense without putting you to sleep.”
When he’s not tracking gambling legislation or looking for the next breaking story, Ziv is living and dying with every pitch and play from his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. As a Pitt graduate, it’s a city loyalty forged in heartbreak, but one he wouldn’t trade for anything, except maybe a few more playoff wins.
When away from the keyboard, Ziv loves to hit the road and soak up the energy of casinos. Whether strolling the neon jungle called the Vegas Strip, or wandering into a smoky riverboat casino in the Midwest, Ziv’s in his element. He’s the guy chatting with players, blackjack dealers, and asking pit bosses way too many questions, all in the name of “research,” of course. The casino floor isn’t just his workplace, it’s a weird and wonderful ecosystem of flashing lights, wild characters, and pure sensory overload, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
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