The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa offers thousands of slot machines for all type of players, including those who secretly wish they were on a game show.
The iconic 36-story guitar-shaped tower has continued to glow every night during the coronavirus crisis, but the slot machines have been dark and silent inside the newly-renovated Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood.
Among the hardest-hit tourism industries during the pandemic is the gaming industry, which affected 246 Native American tribes with more than 500 gaming facilities in 29 states, including the Seminole and Miccosukee hotels and casinos in South Florida.
About 1,500 gamers turned up Sunday for the reopening of Miami’s Miccosukee Resort and Gaming under strict health guidelines. Those included temperature checks for all guests and employees, mandatory masks, every third slot machine on with two between off to ensure social distance, and disinfectant wipe stations throughout the facility.
“We were able to open our doors early by meeting what we call all the steps of safety for all of us. And yet we have a long way to go. We’re not out of it,” Billy Cypress, chairman of the tribe, said Wednesday at a press conference outside of Miccosukee Resort & Gaming, 500 SW 177th Ave.
Some areas remain closed: hotel, valet services, Bingo, poker, Empeeke Aaweeke International Buffet, Bravo Bravissimo, Café Hammock, Cypress Lounge, Martini Bar, Pa-Hay Okee Salon Spa, Club Egret and the teen arcade.
The scenario will be much the same Thursday night, when Seminole Hard Rock Tampa reopens. “Safe and Sound” rules there include temperature checks, mandatory masks, alternating slot machines, and Plexiglass barriers dividing players and dealers at poker and table games.
There are no confirmed reopening dates for any of the Seminole Tribe’s three Broward casino complexes – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek and Seminole Classic Casino Hollywood. The Seminole-owned Billie Swamp Safari and Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum also remain closed.
The Magic City Casino remains closed, but Jai Alai there resumed on May 1 with no fans. Games are streamed online.
Jim Allen, the CEO of Seminole Gaming and Hard Rock International, told Fox Business last week that he expected their Florida casinos to open “end of May or early June”.
The closures of tribal casinos alone took a estimated $4.4 billion bite out of casino revenues and left 296,000 people out of work. That means $997 million in lost wages, and $721 million in lost taxes and revenue sharing received by federal, state, and local governments, according to Alan Meister, the CEO and Prime Economist at California-based Meister Economic Consulting, which analyzes the gaming industry and Indian gaming.
Meanwhile, the Seminole Tribe’s long-running gaming compact dispute with the State of Florida remains in limbo until the legislature is back in session. In May 2019, the Seminole Tribe discontinued sharing revenue generated by its six casinos, arguing the state was in violation of the deal that gave the state at least $1 billion over five years. A subsequent, 2015 deal by then-Gov. Rick Scott (R) would have brought the state $3 billion over a seven-year period, but no arrangement has been finalized.
“These closures continue to cause significant detriment to Native American tribes, many of which rely heavily on gaming related revenue to pay for tribal government operations infrastructure, and social and economic programs and services for a Native American population that is already substantially disadvantaged,” said Meister.
South Florida is feeling its share of the pain. The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood employs more than 4,000 people, most of whom were furloughed when the complex closed March 20. Seminole Gaming extended employee healthcare benefits, continued salary payments for two weeks and twice distributed $100 grocery gift cards to workers who make less than $50,000 a year, according to Gary Bitner, whose public relations firm represents the Seminole Tribe of Florida and its Florida casinos.
Between the Seminole Gaming entities and the Hard Rock holdings, the enterprise in a normal year brings in about $5 billion in annual revenue, according to Allen. The two biggest properties in Florida — Hollywood and Tampa — are among the five most profitable casinos in the country.
The company’s $2.2 billion expansions of the Tampa and Hollywood properties opened in late-2019 and significantly bumped revenue and growth during the quarters ending Dec. 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020. Those results should help Seminole Gaming and Hard Rock International withstand the crisis in the long run, said an April 13 report by Fitch Ratings, one of the nation’s top credit ratings agencies.
The two enterprises saw their Fitch Ratings dropped from “Stable” to “Negative” in mid-April due to the pandemic. “Seminole’s Outlook revision to Negative reflects the tribe’s exposure to the adverse impact to the gaming industry from the coronavirus pandemic and, to a lesser extent, the broader restaurant and leisure industries,” said the Fitch report. “All of the tribe’s casinos are currently closed with uncertain timelines for opening” but “SHRE (Seminole Hard Rock Enterprises) also has sufficient cash on hand to weather the near-term cash burn without the need for additional liquidity,” the firm wrote.
“Fitch views STOF (Seminole Tribe of Florida’s) expansion in Tampa and Hollywood favorably, given the strength in the underlying operating environment and benefits to the company’s competitive positioning.”
As of May 18, 54 tribal casinos had re-opened in 14 states — Idaho, Oklahoma, Washington, Texas, Arizona, California, North Dakota, Michigan, Florida, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Carolina and Oregon.
Said Meister, “It’s a two-edged sword because the casinos want to open as soon as possible to start generating revenue, but you want to do it safely and make your customers feel comfortable and that they’re going to want to come back out. It’s going to take time. There definitely is some pent-up demand. We’ve seen lines at some facilities when they re-opened. But some people won’t want to go out yet.”
He said the Seminole tribe is “a fairly large gaming tribe, very well known for acquiring the Hard Rock brand and being able to operate not just gaming, but non-gaming businesses around the world that Hard Rock has, so they’re pretty experienced in operating gaming and hospitality.”
Allen feels confident the Seminole gaming facilities have the space and capacity to create a safe environment, and he expects there will be pent-up demand. Seminole Hard Rock Tampa is the first of six Seminole Gaming casinos to reopen in Florida.
“We’re anticipating very large crowds,” Allen said. “We saw some openings last week in other parts of the United States, and frankly, volumes are tremendous. We will be prepared for that. The max capacity we will allocate is 50 percent as we navigate safety for our guests and employees.
“But we’re more concerned about third quarter, fourth quarter, first quarter of next year because I think after the initial pent-up demand is behind us, then the question is, `What’s the frequency and available discretionary income to come to an entertainment facility.”
Allen added that Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming are fully committed to providing a safe environment for their staff and guests: “We are making sure our resorts are safe and sound so our guests and team members have peace of mind when they return.”
While the Seminole gaming facilities were hemorrhaging money, the Tribe worked hard to control the virus within its community.
There were just three confirmed cases out of more than 4,300 members of the Tribe, and all three already recovered, according to Bitner. Across Indian Country, more than 5,200 cases were confirmed, according to the New York Times, and the Navajo Nation this week surpassed New York and New Jersey for the highest per-capita coronavirus infection rate in the U.S. The Navajo population is 173,667 and they have 4,002 cases.
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©2020 Miami Herald
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Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa is the first casino in the country to offer Everi Holdings Inc. (NYSE: EVRI) (“Everi”) newly licensed Discovery Shark Week™ theme on Everi’s Empire Arena™. The six-pod arrangement of machines are located in the new casino expansion area next to L Bar and Rise Kitchen & Bakery.
Empire Arena is uniquely designed to fully immerse the player as if they are peering through a window into an undersea world filled with lively sharks and other sea life swimming around a brightly colored coral reef. Sea life transitions seamlessly across massive 55-inch top screens while players engage with three exciting base games through touch capable 27-inch LCD bottom screens, making it impossible to miss on the gaming floor.
“We’re excited to be the first casino in the country to offer Everi’s newly licensed Discovery Shark Week™ game theme on its Empire Arena platform,” said Dan Ingster, Vice President, Slot Operations, at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa. “Our goal is to deliver a premium gaming experience to our patrons and Discovery Shark Week™ enables us to do just that.”
Discovery Shark Week™ features three popular base video game themes that include Shark Week with Star Magic™, Shark Week with Jaws of Steel™, and Shark Week with Fire Phoenix Burst®. Break the Cage™, What did the Shark Eat™, Fish Grab™, and Shark Alert™ are thrilling bonus features. Actual footage from Discovery’s Shark Week™ plays at the end of each bonus and is scattered throughout all the themes.
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About Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa is the premier entertainment destination of Central Florida. Owned and operated by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the property is one of the most successful and largest casinos in the world. Located off I-4 at North Orient Road and Hillsborough Avenue, about 10 minutes east of downtown Tampa, the casino features high stakes table games, thousands of the hottest slot machines as well as a new smoke free slots area offering more than 850 popular games. Additionally, there is a state-of-the-art Poker Room featuring 46 tables and an art deco-inspired Mezzanine Level Casino with more than 500 premium and high limit slots. The hotel is AAA Four Diamond rated and the property proudly offers seven award-winning Zagat-rated restaurants, including the upscale dining venues Council Oak Steaks & Seafood and The Rez Grill. The only place to rock one’s body and soul, Rock Spa® & Salon, is also available along with a plethora of VIP services. For more information, please call 866-502-PLAY or visit us online and via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
About Hard Rock International
With venues in 76 countries, including 185 cafes, 27 hotels and 12 casinos, Hard Rock International (HRI) is one of the most globally recognized companies. Beginning with an Eric Clapton guitar, Hard Rock owns the world’s most valuable collection of music memorabilia, which is displayed at its locations around the globe. Hard Rock is also known for its collectible fashion and music-related merchandise and Hard Rock Live performance venues. HRI owns the global trademark for all Hard Rock brands. The company owns, operates and franchises Cafes in iconic cities including London, New York, San Francisco, Sydney and Dubai. HRI also owns, licenses and/or manages hotel/casino properties worldwide. Destinations include the company’s two most successful Hotel and Casino properties in Tampa and Hollywood, FL., both owned and operated by HRI parent entity The Seminole Tribe of Florida, as well as other exciting locations including Atlantic City, Bali, Cancun, Daytona Beach, Desaru Coast, Ibiza, Orlando, Shenzhen and San Diego. Upcoming new Hard Rock Cafe locations include Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street in the United Kingdom, Djerba, Tunisia, Gran Canaria, Spain,
and Chandigarh, India. New Hard Rock Hotel, Casino or Hotel & Casino projects include Berlin, Budapest, Dublin, London, Los Cabos, Madrid, Maldives, New York City, Ottawa, Sacramento, Dalian and Haikou in China. In 2018, Hard Rock International was recognized as a Forbes Magazine Top Employer for Women and Land Operator of the Year at the Global Gaming Awards. For more information on Hard Rock International visit www.hardrock.com.
About Everi
Everi is a leading supplier of technology solutions for the casino gaming industry. The company Powers the Casino Floor® by providing casino operators with a diverse portfolio of products including innovative gaming machines and casino operational and management systems that include comprehensive, end-to-end financial technology solutions, critical intelligence offerings, and gaming operations efficiency technology. Everi also provides proven, tier one land-based game content to online social and real-money markets via its Remote Game Server and operates social play for fun casinos. Everi’s mission is to be a transformative force for casino operations by facilitating memorable player experiences, delivering reliable protection and security, and striving for customer satisfaction and operational excellence. For more information, visit https://clicktime.symantec.com/32ER9rGxKRxtaG72PEduMk77Vc?u=www.everi.com.
©2018 TM Discovery Communications, LLC. Shark Week and related logos are trademarks of Discovery Communications, LLC. Used under license. All rights reserved.
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