By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Both the Vegas Golden Knights and AGS, the publicly-held slot machine maker with 130 workers at its Decatur Boulevard location, drew lots of attention in the gambling and sport worlds when their official partnership was announced a few weeks ago.
But AGS now wants to take the company’s love for pro hockey to the next business deal level. AGS’ top marketing executive told LVSportsBiz.com Thursday that the slot machine manufacturer is talking with the NHL about the idea of using the Golden Knights’ logo and mark on actual slot machines for use in casinos.
AGS displayed a slot machine with the Golden Knights’ secondary logo at this week’s G2E mega gaming trade show in Las Vegas, but that was strictly for promotional and marketing purposes. It’s not for use on a casino floor.
Julia Boguslawski, AGS executive vice president for investor relations and chief marketing officer, said talks are underway between AGS and the National Hockey League about the possibility of AGS making slot machines with the VGK mark for casinos.
Boguslawski said AGS is also analyzing whether that particular slot machine would make financial sense. “Now that we have shareholders, we have to look at these things.”
PlayAGS, Inc. (AGS) went public in January and saw its share value go from $16 per share to $32 a share in August, Boguslawski said. It closed at $28.41 a share Thursday.
The three-year sponsorship deal between the Golden Knights and AGS came after the gaming equipment supplier wanted to create a T-shirt with the Golden Knights for the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. Five AGS executives at the Las Vegas location are VGK season ticket holders and they wanted to forge a partnership with the Golden Knights.
But a company had to be a corporate partner with the Golden Knights to have a rally towel or T-shirt during the postseason, so AGS and the VGK began talking about an official partnership after the Knights’ maiden season ended, Boguslawski said.
AGS chatted with the Golden Knights’ Brendan Dolby, the VGK director of corporate partnerships. Both companies shared a similar quality — both were seen as underdogs. Nobody expected much from the Golden Knights’ inaugural season, while industry pundits didn’t think AGS could go public and go toe-to-toe with big gambling industry manufacturers like IGT, Boguslawski said.
Both proved the “experts” wrong as the VGK advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, while AGS showed an uptick in revenue of 40 percent, she said. “People said we couldn’t compete with the big boys. It turns out we can,” she said.
AGS used its partnership with the Golden Knights to promote its brand at its 7,000-square-foot display space at G2E, which drew 30,000 to the Sands Expo center Monday to Thursday.
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While there’s no AGS gambling machines with Golden Knights marks in casinos yet, AGS does use an electronic animated version of the VGK helmet on its roulette signage. One such roulette signage with the Golden Knights helmet is at Red Rock Resort, Boguslawski said.
The AGS-VGK partnership, the first official sponsorship deal between a major league team and gaming equipment supplier, allows AGS to sponsor the all-new “Play of the Game” feature at every VGK home game on the T-Mobile Arena center-hung jumbotron. The AGS Play of the Game will replay and highlight a key moment from each home game.
“Adding the fastest-growing gaming equipment supplier to our roster of team partners is a big milestone for our organization and we couldn’t be more thrilled about partnering with AGS,” Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz said in a statement when the deal was announced last month. The Golden Knights already have partnerships with hotel-casino companies MGM Resorts International, The D, Caesars Entertainment, Station Casinos and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. VGK also has a deal with sportsbook partner William Hill.
AGS started in Oklahoma City supplying slot machines for Indian casinos and has 600 workers companywide, including the 130 in Las Vegas.
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