Rumours of another London casino show began to circulate the industry at the beginning of this week. The suggestion was that the American Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) organisation, which comprises all of the big names in the slot machine supply business, was planning to run a show at ExCel, the big Docklands location.
According to the speculation, the event is to coincide with the European Amusement and Gaming Expo, the new show which was launched this year by the UK trade association BACTA. The dates for this are January 25-27, 2011.
The rumours attributing the source to AGEM state that major show organisers Reed International are to manage the show for the organisation and it would be named G2E Europe, providing a European version of the world’s largest casino industry trade show held annually in Las Vegas, G2E.
The news mystified BACTA, however, who reported that it had a contract with ExCel for another four years, which provided a clause preventing a competing show. When contacted by InterGame/InterGaming, Marcus Prater for AGEM stated: “AGEM is not hosting anything. Some of our members have come out in support of a Reed-organised show at ExCel. Any official announcements will come from Reed. I’ll be happy to comment further when I know the specifics of what the news will be.”
This would not appear to rule out the possibility of an alternative show to the IGE at Earls Court, even though the organiser of IGE, Clarion Gaming, has put out a statement clearly indicating a long-term security of tenure on Earls Court. There has been speculation that the venue may be redeveloped over the next few years.
