Few executives in the history of American gaming can boast of a resume like Phil Satre's.

Satre, a star linebacker for Stanford's 1971 Rose Bowl football team, is currently the non-executive Chairman of the Board for Wynn Resorts, Ltd, a position he has held since 2018. He is credited with helping stabilize the international gaming giant and repairing the reputational damage that followed the departure of Steve Wynn.

He has also served as chairman of the board for Nordstrom, NV Energy, the Guinn Center for Policy Priorities and as non-executive chairman for International Game Technology (IGT).

However, one of Satre's greatest achievements in gaming came during his long service at Harrah's and Harrah's Entertainment.

Satre rose from Harrah's general counsel in 1980 to positions of president, CEO and chairman of the board over the next 25 years. He was inducted into the American Gaming Association Hall of Fame in 2003 before retiring from Harrah's in 2004.

While with Harrah's, Satre created the innovative and highly successful, "Total Rewards" slot club loyalty program, where customers could earn points toward gifts, discounts and special treatment while staying at a Harrah's property. Points could be earned and redeemed at any Harrah's property. By the turn of the 21st century, it had created an army of loyal customers, boosted business and allowed Harrah's to compile a huge customer data base.

By 2002, Harrah’s customers could earn points at 26 casinos in the U.S., with a combined total of more 42,500 slot machines, 14,400 hotel rooms, and 108 restaurants, according to Harrah's SEC filings.

'Total Rewards,' was an innovation few gaming executives fully understood when it was launched, Satre said during a recent interview on Nevada Newsmakers.

Satre first rolled out Harrah's customer rewards program in 1997, under the name of 'Total Gold.' It was rebranded 'Total Rewards' in 2000.

"At the time, most of our competitors, Steve Wynn in particular, but others too, were really focused on building big casinos in Nevada," Satre told host Sam Shad.

"We probably missed the boat a little bit on that, but we were looking at it and saying our strategy is to have the largest database of casino customers that we possibly could have and much larger than our competitors," Satre said. "It gave that customer the opportunity to go to Atlantic City, go to Tahoe, go to Reno, go to Las Vegas, then go to riverboat casinos, go to Indian casinos....

"And all of that created this much larger database, which was our strategy," Satre continued. "Know your customer. Know what they want. Know what kind of rewards they receive for visitation and all of that."

Steve Wynn, a major competitor for Harrah's, didn't fully grasp the customer rewards concept when Harrah's launched it, Satre said.
"Our biggest competitor in Las Vegas is Steve Wynn," Satre said. "Steve builds product and he builds beautiful product with attention to detail. And he once said to me, 'Why do you have this thing called 'Total Resort Rewards?

"He didn't have any interest in developing a rewards program," Satre said. "We (Wynn Resorts Ltd.) have one now, but that was the real difference. People were focused on either product, customer relationship or in some cases, there was a focus on creating multiple experiences in there, which is the integrated resort that Steve (Wynn) and others developed. "

Expanding its customer database was also a key reason why Harrah's became a major player in the tribal gaming market, Satre said.

"That was our strategy. We wanted to have as much exposure as we could to customers who were interested in the casino-entertainment experience," Satre said.

Satre saw the potential of the tribal-gaming market by reaching back to experiences from his earlier days with Harrah's.

"That was really because of my experience in Atlantic City in the early days of saying, 'Don't underestimate the attraction of people who want to have an opportunity to have a night out gambling or a two-day stay or whatever it might be."

Demise of Reno as a top market

While tribal gaming boosted Harrah's customer data base, it also led to the downfall of Reno's status within Harrah's boardroom and its reputation as one of America's top gaming markets, Satre said.

Reno almost became a liability, where the Return on Investment (ROI) just wasn't there.

Harrah's moved its corporate headquarters from Reno to Memphis, Tenn., in 1991. It was a sad day for Reno. A component of its history gone. Harrah's original Reno property had been the company's home since Bill Harrah opened a bingo parlor there in 1937, six years after the Nevada Legislature had legalize gambling.

"Compared to our other investments throughout the United States, the lowest return was in Reno," Satre recalled. "And partly that was because the advent of Native American gaming, Northern California in particular.

"The concentration of Indian gaming operations in Northern California made it a lot more tempting for that customer who's almost singular purpose in coming to Reno was to play the slots or table games," Satre said. "Now they had an alternative, and those slot machines looked just like the ones they could play when they were in Reno. It was the same with the blackjack table or the roulette game or whatever it might be. And I think that created a higher risk for Reno."

One of Harrah's big draws in its Reno/Tahoe heyday was top-tier entertainment. That, too, had its demise.

"Bill Harrah loved the entertainment side of the business," Satre said. "I think the casino side showed he obviously understood the dynamics financially, but he really loved entertainers. I mean up at Lake Tahoe, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, John Denver. I mean, we just had a great lineup."

Bill Harrah loved entertainers so much that he married one. Harrah and singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry were married in Las Vegas in December of 1969 and divorced five months later. He was 58, She was 26.

The intimacy of showrooms in Reno and Lake Tahoe were a big draw, yet also led to the unraveling of the system, Satre said.

"Those theaters were so small comparatively," he said. "They were great for the guest. It was an intimate environment. With almost any seat, you felt like you were sitting right in front of that entertainer.

"(But it) became much more difficult, competing with these big arenas and other places where those entertainers could get four, five, even 10 times what we were paying them. So that made it harder to get the kind of return (in Reno, Tahoe) that you can get investing into Las Vegas.

"We didn't also have the transportation lift that was being developed in Southern Nevada. I think we're doing a very good job now (in Reno), but it was a much more difficult environment then to get a customer (to visit Reno) who had a longer stay with a longer budget, with that budget including non-gaming and gaming."

Fast-forward to present times and Reno is moving in the right direction, Satre said.

"Now, I do think that the Grand Sierra and the J Resort are beginning to change that (gaming/non-gaming attractions) mix here," he said. "And when the Grand Sierra went before the city (council with expansion plans including an 10,00-seat arena), I testified on behalf of the Grand Sierra. I said, 'We need to start seeing this happen in this community for us to have a more vibrant resort environment.

"We have some very good resorts here (in Reno), but we need to expand the experience for the guests beyond the
casino floor," Satre said.

That "expansion of the experience" is doing well at Wynn properties and other resorts in Las Vegas, Satre said, crediting Steve Wynn for his vision. Las Vegas is no longer just a gambling town, when you consider that gaming is not the top driver of Las Vegas' vast resort industry, Satre said.

"Now that mix is a 65/35 mix, 65 percent non-gaming, 35 percent gaming," Satre said. "... the whole concept was developed by Steve Wynn, of an integrated resort. It (integrated resort) was part casino, part retail, part food & beverage, part entertainment facilities and other types of convention facilities to drive a customer in that wasn't committed only to being there because they wanted to play blackjack, slot machines, baccarat or whatever."

"Those customers are very important, and I think Steve thought about it first," Satre continued. "We wanted to be able to attract people who wanted to have a luxury experience, an entertainment experience, even a shopping experience, for that matter.  And it became a very-important development of the Las Vegas market. And, you know, we we were doing programs that had more emphasis on international visitors, visitors from throughout the United States.

"Reno has been more focused on Northern Nevada, the Pacific Northwest and Northern California,
most importantly," Satre said. "And that has made it a little bit more difficult, I think, to change that mix without significant levels of capital investment."