The
Resort Side
WinStar World Casino & Resort in Oklahoma by HBG Design
Non-gaming amenities are becoming profit centers in themselves for the tribes
By Frank Legato
Along the Las Vegas Strip , the epicenter of the commercial gaming industry , the race was won long ago . During the last fiscal year , non-gaming amenities on the Strip accounted for more than 73 percent of all operator revenues . But what about Indian Country ? As the tribal gaming market has matured , amenities outside of the slots and tables have evolved , particularly in the larger properties such as Pechanga in California and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut . And while smaller , more local Indian casinos — and many of the larger ones as well — still rely on the gaming piece as their main driver , as competition continues to increase , more and more tribes are beginning to look outside of the gaming floor to distinguish themselves .
That means non-gaming amenities in general are on the rise in Indian Country , although how they fit into the revenue picture still depends on the nature of the property and the size , demographics and spending habits of each particular market .
“ Each property is a little different ,” comments Paul Heretakis , vice president of Westar Architectural Group . “ Some are in unique locations and have a captured audience for a large visitor radius with little competition . They need to offer a clean , safe , friendly environment with some amenities that can be used from time to time for marketing purposes .
“ People in those areas prefer to eat at home and spend money on gambling . Amenities are a harder sell . Other properties are in very competitive markets , and those casinos have responded with amenities and properties that rival the Las Vegas Strip . They are enormous , make insane amounts of money and the level of design is first class .”
David Nejelski , creative director and principal of TBE Architects , says his firm — a firm that has 123 Native American and First Nation casino projects to its credit — recommends that clients do a prior market study to gauge
the proportion and nature of non-gaming amenities to include .
“ If it ’ s the only game in town and people are going there , the demand and the need to do secondary amenities isn ’ t as strong ,” Nejelski says . “ If you ’ re in a competitive market and you ’ ve got the property down the street that just did a hotel expansion , or added some conference space , then you ’ re going to start losing market share if you don ’ t start offering similar amenities , or something a little bit different .”
“ If you look in a market like Southern California ,” adds Brett K . Ewing , principal of Cuningham Architecture , “ there are a lot of very nice facilities , and they ’ re pretty close to each other . Some are within 10 miles of each other . So , in that case , you have to keep up with the Joneses . You need to continue to redefine yourself to not only keep your existing customers , but grow the market share .”
“ Non-gaming amenities are key in reinforcing overall revenues for both tribal and commercial properties , recognizing the importance of keeping loyal gamers and guests engaged on-site ,” says Nathan Peak , principal and practice leader for HBG Design . “ The market is the main factor . HBG collaborates with our tribal clients and their feasibility consultants to identify and tailor non-gaming amenities to the local market and customer in alignment with our client ’ s specific revenue objectives .”
Returning on Investment
The market for non-gaming amenities grows as markets mature and longoperating properties continue to evolve .
“ There ’ s a lot happening right now ,” comments John Ruiz , principal and managing member of R2Architects . “ We ’ re just starting to see where the non-gaming amenities of these properties are evolving today , in contrast to 15 or 20 years ago . And what we see is that there ’ s demand from the customers at a lot of these properties for what we ’ ve referred to as a more end-
22 TRIBAL GOVERNMENT GAMING 2024