Arizona , New York , New Jersey , Iowa , Virginia , Indiana , Tennessee and Ohio .
In New Jersey , the online casino option is available . Allen says there ’ s a unique online option available in Florida , however .
“ The scope of the compact does not allow for iGaming ,” he explains . “ The scope of the compact does allow for historical sports betting outcomes to be utilized in a casino-style game . So that ’ s a very unique scope of the compact that certainly we have at our disposable if we desire to do that . But I think every state now that sees the success of sports betting looks at what ’ s happening with the profitability and the additional tax or revenue share that ’ s available via iGaming . I think those conversations are changing more rapidly today than what they were three years ago , let alone five years ago .”
Allen says the compact implementation is good news for the state of Florida .
“ The land-based business has grown so much ,” he explains , “ but unfortunately , the gray market gains and all the illegal activity that the state was having challenges with certainly created a pause . The relationship between the tribe and the state , including the House , the Senate , this governor , and the previous four governors , has always been very positive . There is no doubt that no one wants to turn Florida into Las Vegas , whether it be the number of land-based operations , or sports betting or iGaming . But they don ’ t want the illegal activity that ’ s happening with offshore companies in the betting sector .
“ Then the question becomes , do they want to have money that ’ s guaranteed from the only investment-grade company from all three rating agencies , or do they want to take the risk of not taking that money and trying to get something done legislatively , which they cannot do , because they ’ ve got to go the referendum route ?
“ And that ’ s where we ended up as to the legal position of the state and the tribe . We ’ ve always said if the state wants to put gaming all over the state of Florida , please don ’ t ask the tribe for any money . And the state might make more money in that scenario ; we ’ ve always acknowledged that . But the state — everyone that I ’ ve ever spoke to in leadership , but the House , the Senate , or the governor ’ s office — says , we do not want that to occur .”
Table Talk
Another factor in the Seminole compact was the tribe ’ s ability to add noncard games to its offerings , basically meaning craps and roulette . Allen says that they have been very popular since they were implemented late last year .
“ We certainly knew roulette would be incredibly successful based upon the penetration of the Central and South American populations ,” he says . “ You look at places like Brazil and Argentina , they love to play roulette . But craps has been a pleasant surprise .
“ It ’ s a fascinating game . It can be one of those games that is very intimidating to the average person , but certainly when a great game is occurring on the casino floor , there ’ s just tremendous excitement . It ’ s not going to make or break the $ 700 million a year we ’ re going to pay to the state of Florida this year , but it really creates some great excitement , and we ’ re very appreciative of getting that game into our scope .”
Tribal members participate in the first dice roll at the Hard Rock casino in Tampa
Because of the additional games being offered , Allen says the tribe created a lot more jobs for the state .
“ We hired for craps and roulette separate from sports betting ,” he says . “ But together we ’ ve added around 1,000 employees in all different job classifications .”
In addition , Allen says the addition of craps and roulette means Hard Rock will have to go outside the company to hire people with real-time experience in those games .
“ We ’ ve had our own dealer school for many , many years , but we ’ re actually out recruiting in other markets right now because we ’ re enhancing and increasing the number of games , and we just can ’ t get the people through school quick enough .”
Hard Rock has recently debuted the Unity players club . Unlike a Caesars or MGM Rewards situation , establishing Unity was much more difficult because of the Hard Rock status in the individual casinos it operates across the country and around the world .
Some Hard Rock casinos , like the ones in Florida , are owned by the tribal gaming enterprise . Others , like Hard Rock Atlantic City , the tribe only owns a piece of the property , but operates the property for the majority owners . And still others , like Hard Rock Biloxi , it ’ s just a branding situation . Hard Rock International does not own or operate the property ; the tribe just takes a branding fee . So setting up a players club that would satisfy all those different situations was tricky . And the same situation is duplicated in the Hard Rock Cafés the tribe also owns .
“ You ’ re trying to get 300 partnerships in 70 different countries under 11 different currencies , and I forget how many different languages ,” he laughs . “ It was a monumental task . But now , whether you ’ re in a Hard Rock Café in South America or if you ’ re in a hotel in London , it is all one program . And that has been a major uplift for us . It probably took longer than we would ’ ve liked but certainly we ’ re very proud of it .”
To hear and view a full podcast of this interview with Jim Allen , go to GGB- Magazine . com . Allen talks about plans for Hard Rock around the world , including an interesting slant on Hard Rock ’ s application for a casino in New York City .
16 Global Gaming Business MARCH 2024