The most valuable asset in the Caesars Entertainment bankruptcy case wasn’t the casino operator’s opulent Roman-themed resort at the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. It’s the company’s big-data customer loyalty program, valued at $1 billion by creditors. That massive valuation simply underscores how valuable your own loyalty program is as a crucial company asset.

The Caesars program was launched in 1998 by CEO Gary Loveman. “We use database marketing and decision-science-based analytical tools to widen the gap between us and casino operators who base their customer incentives more on intuition than evidence,” said Loveman as early as 2003 in  the Harvard Business Review.

It’s no surprise that the extensive dataset has been valued as the company’s most valuable individual asset. The program is said to contain details on more than 45 million customers, and data is captured from the moment they make their booking to the moment they leave, in the name of providing a tailored customer service experience – and of course ultimately encouraging them to spend money with the group. The value derived from the program prompted company vice president Joshua Kanter to claim in 2013 “Big Data is even more important than a gaming licence.”

Sources: Forbes, Wall Street Journal.