Spotlight on Entertainment Randy All - Indian Gaming

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<strong>Spotlight</strong> on Entertainment
Indian casinos continue to broaden the scope of their amenities. A major draw for
these properties is headline entertainment with live performances from some of the
most well-known names in music and comedy. We spoke with representatives from
casino entertainment venues across Indian Country about their facilities and the acts
they book. Here is what they had to say…
Randy All, Director of Entertainment
Coushatta Casino Resort
Kinder, LA
www.coushattacasinoresort.com
The Pavilion at Coushatta is a
4,800-seat venue that doubles as an
equestrian arena and our concert
arena. Since 2006, we have ele-
Randy All
vated our position to the “marquee”
name in entertainment for our market, and we have experienced
tremendous growth and recognition for our efforts.
We strive to present top name artists, and with acts like Reba,
Brooks & Dunn and Jay Leno, our customers do come and
play with us often.
Our signature nightclub, Mikko Live, features regional
bands and we require them to have a very wide repertoire.
They must be able to perform selections from every decade:
1970s to today’s Top 40. We have had great success with
the Vegas style production show, Legends in Concert. This
is their third year returning to our property. The Improv
Comedy Club is in its second year with us bringing national
talent to our guests. The audience experiences more
personal interaction with the entertainers because of
the intimate setting in Mikko Live. And our increased
revenue reflects our customers’ appreciation for quality
entertainment.
HOTTEST TICKET: By far the most successful show
we’ve done was Reba. She sold the entire arena out in two
days, a lot of which can be credited to word-of-mouth. It was
by far the largest crowd that we’ve had in our arena with a
lot of interest from our gaming customers. The gaming
floor had a nice increase that night, as well, which we credit
to the show.
32 Indian Gaming July 2010
Stephanie Barela, Promotions & Events
Specialist
Santa Ana Star Casino
Santa Ana Pueblo, NM
www.santaanastar.com
The Bosque Event Center in
Santa Ana Star Casino, Santa Ana
Pueblo NM, is your destination
for top-shelf entertainment and
Stephanie Barela
action-packed sports events. It's a
spacious, comfortable, state-of-the-art facility that's fully
equipped for concerts, conferences and much more. The
Venue can seat up to 2,800 and every seat in the house has
great stage views. Our intimate yet exciting venue provides
high-quality sound, visual and a comfortable level of entertainment.
The Bosque Event Center entertainment receives great
recognition among the entertainment seeking guests as
well as our local gamer. Our motto is “Your Say Your Way.”
We listen to our guests and we bring them entertainment
they want to see. We offer a variety of entertainment from
fabulous tribute bands such as Beatlemania and
Carnival Cabaret, comedy acts such as 49 Laughs Comedy
as well as celebrity level acts Paul Rodriguez and Michael
Bolton. Our venue doors greet over 6,000 guests monthly,
of which a large amount of the guests are our loyal
gamers.
HOTTEST TICKET: Last year we hosted two shows,
A Tribute to Michael Jackson, on the anniversary of his
birthday. Due to the popularity of the event we added
an additional third show. This tribute to the King of
Pop brought through our doors over 8,000 people in two
days!

Ernestine Boyd, Assistant Marketing
Director/Entertainment Director
Fort McDowell Casino
Fort McDowell, AZ
www.fortmcdowellcasino.com
The Fort McDowell Casino
entertainment venue is a 4,800-seat
outdoor venue that is located in front
of our casino. Nationally recognized
bands and entertainers appear at reg-
Ernestine Boyd ular outdoor concerts for a unique
entertainment experience in one of
the nation’s most beautiful, natural settings. We also house a
smaller indoor stage with a more intimate atmosphere where
patrons can enjoy a continually changing lineup of local and
national entertainers for free.
Entertainment is a proven success for Fort McDowell
Casino. Not only does it drive traffic and create excitement, but
it also increases name recognition within the market. It has in
many ways contributed to the casino’s progress as a whole.
Fort McDowell Casino has had many very successful events,
such as UB40, Slow Jams Live, Low Rider Car Show
& Concerts, Journey and LL Cool J. The reason Fort
McDowell Casino has had so many successful events is that
we evaluate the market, understand our customers and have
great media relationships.
HOTTEST TICKET: The most successful act Fort
McDowell Casino had was the UB40 concert. All original
members were present and they pleased fans whose ages ranged
from teens to 50-year-olds. Ticket sales more than exceeded
the casino’s expectations. The casino’s new member sign up skyrocketed
as a result of this concert.
Ken Carpenter, Entertainment Manager
Treasure Island Resort & Casino
Red Wing, MN
www.treasureislandcasino.com
The Treasure Island Event Center is a nearly 3,000-seat
concert venue with every seat within 125 feet of the stage,
guaranteeing guests have an intimate concert experience. It also
features premier audio and visual equipment, including the
L’Acoustics Line-array V-Dos Sound System not found at any
other casino in Minnesota, and two 14 by 24-foot retractable
video screens.
The Island Event Center has allowed Treasure Island to go
from an 800-seat venue to accommodate nearly 3,000 people.
The expansion has enabled Treasure Island to offer a much more
diverse entertainment schedule and
keep prices at very affordable levels.
With national entertainers coming
on a monthly basis, the mix of performers
appeals to a wide audience
Ken Carpenter
from across the Midwest. The entertainment
mix ranges from country favorites Tim McGraw
and Brooks & Dunn to comedians like Ron White and Bill
Cosby or psychic Sylvia Browne. Other sell-out shows were
Heart, Huey Lewis and The News and REO Speedwagon and
Pat Benatar. Treasure Island also creates fun promotions, giving
guests a chance to personally meet the entertainers or win
great prizes.
HOTTEST TICKET: A-list entertainer Tim McGraw
was a favorite with the fans at Treasure Island. McGraw and
his crew were very impressed with the Event Center’s equipment
as well as the Treasure Island staff during his visit. Being
able to see this incredible performer up close and personal made
this performance memorable for all the fans that attended.
James “Tank” Christensen, Entertainment
& Events Manager
Sol Casinos (Casino Del Sol, Casino of the
Sun, and AVA Amphitheater)
Tucson, AZ
www.solcasinos.com
Our amphitheater was built
approximately seven years ago with
the completion of Casino Del Sol.
James “Tank” Christensen
We have a total of 1,800 reserved
seats with another 3,000 general
admission seats. Our reserved seats are protected under a spacious
roof, while our GA ticket holders can spread a blanket
out on our lush lawn and stare into the Arizona stars.
For Sol Casinos, entertainment has always been extremely
important. Many of our customers first came to our
property because of a concert they attended. Our decision to
consistently bring in world-class performers has really helped
us separate our facility from competitors.
What makes an act successful for a casino? We have many
July 2010 Indian Gaming 33

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classic rock acts that sell very well for us. People have enjoyed
them for years and years and they continue to support them.
On the other hand we also love to book contemporary chart
toppers like Rihanna, Gwen Stefani, and Alicia Keys because
they set us apart from the traditional casino entertainment.
When it comes to pure entertainment it’s hard to beat one of
these high-energy performers. We also tend to get a lot more
press coverage with a contemporary act, and that’s exposure you
can’t pay for.
HOTTEST TICKET: We book our schedule with
different criteria in mind. For instance, Gwen Stefani was an
outstanding show for our venue. We received great press
coverage on the event and had a fantastic sold out show. It was
an achievement to get her arena-sized production wedged
into our intimate venue.
Danny Finnerty, Senior Director of
Entertainment
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa
Catoosa, OK
www.hardrockcasinotulsa.com
Our main live music venue was
designed to fit well with the upscale,
edgy feel of the Hard Rock brand-
Danny Finnerty ing. The look and feel of the venue
is a modern, metropolitan nightclub.
But, it is really more than just a nightclub. It is a
multi-use venue. We have a diverse customer base, so we offer
shows that range from cover bands to DJs to current top acts
in many genres. We also have a successful matinee series
featuring country music icons.
We're also opening a new venue, The Joint, this fall. It will
be one of the finest concert venues in this region for its size.
It will be an intimate venue with 2,500 seats and VIP boxes,
but we'll feature top-tier talent.
Because of the diversity, the response has been tremendous.
We are the place for great entertainment in our
market. An example is our player's concert series. We
feature top talent such as Clint Black, Starship, Don Felder,
Dionne Warwick and others, in free shows for loyalty card
holders. This has been very successful at driving an extra
trip for our best players and also giving them more value
to having a player's card.
HOTTEST TICKET: They've all been very successful,
but in terms of guest response the most successful was
probably Clint Black. The house was packed and the guests were
34 Indian Gaming July 2010
talking about the concert for days afterward. We don't rely on
big, over-the-top shows every quarter. What we've been able
to provide is name-brand shows on a regular basis. The
regularity is what drives traffic.
Sean Harrison, Public Relations Manager
Downstream Casino Resort
Quapaw, OK
www.downstreamcasino.com
The Venue at Downstream is a
6,200 capacity outdoor facility set
on one side of our main parking
area just outside of the casino. It is
Sean Harrison
covered with soft fareway-like grass
that slopes up toward the back to provide very good sight
lines for all patrons. We bring in a stage only when we are
setting up for a concert, so during times when we are not
putting on shows it looks somewhat like a baseball practice
field. We have been lucky with the weather, and so far we
have been very pleased with The Venue, because our guests
have enjoyed it.
We have been very successful in attracting good crowds
to our concerts, and they have been the right kind of
crowds, who flow straight into the casino after the shows.
We have gotten used to bracing ourselves for the throng
immediately after every show. And what happens is, the
excitement and energy that builds during a great concert
comes pouring through the casino doors and it really hits
with a force. It’s fun for everyone, our guests as well as our
team members.
We have had some very successful nights with classic rock
bands Foreigner, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, and so
far this year with Gregg Allman. We are still a new property
(opened in July 2008), so we’re still experimenting with
what works best for The Venue. But it’s always a lot of fun,
a lot of hard work, and we look forward to many more
concerts.
HOTTEST TICKET: Our very first concert was Tony
Bennett, which was shortly after we opened in 2008, and that
has been hard to beat in terms of quality, just by having a
living legend perform for our guests. But the biggest crowd
we had – an overflow sell-out – was when the Beach Boys
played on Labor Day last year. I believe it was because it
was a daytime concert, and we turned The Venue into a big
beach party and promoted it as an End of Summer blowout.
The casino was slammed afterward.

Leslie Lumley, Marketing Director
Yakama Nation Legends Casino
Toppenish, WA
www.legendscasino.com
Our entertainment venue is an
outdoor arena adjacent to our
property. We arrange bleacher
Leslie Lumley seats around our stage along with
floor seating for our VIP, gold and
silver ticket holders.
Since our venue is outside it’s always been a challenge to drive
traffic into the casino. For one of our recent MMA events we
had Forrest Griffin appear as a special celebrity guest. He
mingled with the crowd during the fights and afterwards we held
a special VIP meet & greet event inside the casino with
Forrest. The meet & greet was very successful at drawing
crowds from the outdoor venue inside.
We’ve never had luck enticing customers inside with cash
drawings or promotions after our shows. As many other
casinos also experience, entertainment can end up driving the
true gaming customers away because they don’t want to deal
with the parking and crowds so we try to book shows our
gaming customers will want to see and we comp them tickets
as a thank you for their patronage.
HOTTEST TICKET: KC and the Sunshine Band was our
most successful entertainment act. Not only did the band put
on an extraordinary performance (imagine super high energy,
audience participation and t-shirt cannons), but the show hit
our demographic right on and we saw an increase in our
gaming revenue that night (a rarity for show nights).
Steve Macfadyen, Director of Entertainment
Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa
Rancho Mirage, CA
www.hotwatercasino.com
Agua Caliente operates a state-of-the-art, 2,000-seat concert
theatre called The Show. It’s built most like a performing arts
center theatre, with four different seating levels. Guest comfort
was critical to the design, including extra wide and plush
fixed seating, perfect acoustics, and soothing finishes. Twelve
luxury boxes compliment the guest amenities, as well. The Show
is first-class in house production with full sound, lights, and
video, a private on-stage loading dock, and terrific dressing room
facilities, which allow artists to perform in comfort without the
need for their own touring production.
The Show has been extremely
successful in driving traffic to the
casino. A conscious decision was
made to build a dedicated concert
venue, not a multi-purpose room,
and become an entertainment-based
Steve Macfadyen
resort. Our marketing has shifted to
encompass this decision and is
successfully driving gaming and hotel toward consistent
weekend sellouts.
We have had multiple success stories since we opened The
Show in February of 2009. Boxing with Showtime and HBO
has brought in tremendous gaming. Tony Bennett has sold out
each time he’s peformed, and consistently fills the restaurants,
casino, and hotel. Reba was a huge winner for us driving all
revenue streams. Most of all is the value-added opportunities
for our very best carded players. They love The Show!
HOTTEST TICKET: One of the most successful events
at The Show was comedian Gabriel Iglesias, an annual sell-out
event that has increased our Latin audience base. It was one of
our fastest sell-outs, guests had a great time, and our hotel, casino
and restaurants were packed.
Anthony San Pietro, President of Viejas
Entertainment & Production
Viejas Casino
Alpine, CA
www.viejas.com
The DreamCatcher at Viejas
Casino is southern California’s
premier intimate-setting venue for
music, comedy, events and entertainment.
Conveniently located
within Viejas Casino, the Dream-
Catcher seats up to 800 for concerts.
Recent entertainers at DreamCatcher
have included Merle Haggard, Buddy
Anthony San Pietro
Guy, Colbie Callait, Lisa Lampanelli
and Carlos Mencia. DreamCatcher has also hosted the Women’s
Professional Billiard Association’s (WPBA) national tournament,
local music competitions and other events.
Concerts in the Park. Located in the Park at Viejas Outlet
Center directly across from the Viejas Casino, Concerts in the
Park is a stunning setting with the mountains of the Cleveland
National Forest serving as a beautiful backdrop. Concerts in
the Park seats up to 2,500 and has featured headliners such as
July 2010 Indian Gaming 35

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Earth Wind and Fire, LeAnn Rimes and ZZ Top in the past.
In addition to concerts, the Park at Viejas Casino also hosts
events such as farmers markets, free outdoor movies in the
summer and skating on southern California’s largest outdoor
ice skating rink in the winter.
The primary goal of our entertainment offering is to
supplement other offerings at Viejas, including gaming, shopping
and dining. While each offering operates independently,
each one also has the potential to drive business to the other.
In addition, the synergy among the various offerings at Viejas
creates a true entertainment destination for a very broad
customer base. So while our entertainment offerings have helped
drive casino business, it’s also important that they stand on
their own as desirable entertainment offerings for our guests and
add to the entertainment mix that has established Viejas as one
of Southern California’s premier entertainment destinations.
HOTTEST TICKET: All of our events are successful. We
are fortunate to have the tools and the team to create that
energy. That being said, we have had one group that stands
out as a consistent performer: Thunder From Down Under is
a touring group that we bring in twice a year. They consistently
sell every ticket and increase property performance.
Shena Sawyer, Director of Entertainment
Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand
Casino Hinckley
Onamia, MN and Hinckley, MN
www.grandcasinomn.com
At Grand Casino Mille Lacs, the
1,605-seat event center is designed
so that there is not a bad seat in the
house. Concert-goers are never far
Shena Sawyer
from the stage and the rows of seats
in the back are on an incline so that no matter where you sit
– you have a great view.
Grand Casino Hinckley is unique in that it offers an indoor
concert venue, and a 5,700-plus seat amphitheater that offers
everyone an opportunity to enjoy live music outdoors during
those sweet Minnesota summers.
Entertainment has been successful at our casinos. It increases
volume and headcounts, which translates into increased revenue
at our restaurants, hotels, and gaming floor.
Not only do we utilize entertainment as a VIP experience
for our most loyal players, but it is also one of the best opportunities
to introduce our beautiful properties to those who
haven’t been here before. We often gain life-long guests by
36 Indian Gaming July 2010
booking a variety of acts throughout the year to suit all entertainment
preferences.
HOTTEST TICKET: We have booked several successful
acts, but if I was to name one of the most successful, it probably
would be Jeff Dunham at Grand Casino Mille Lacs.
Before we book a show, we do extensive research on the
artist/performer. With Jeff Dunham, we knew that the demand
was there, and that he had a large following in Minnesota. That,
combined with the low ticket prices we continuously offer, gave
our guests the best value for their money, and the show sold
out within hours.
Brian Zanazanian, Senior
Marketing Manager
WinStar World Casino
Thackerville, OK
www.winstarworldcasino.com
WinStar World Casino plays host
to some of the most popular
entertainers, bands and comedians
around. The 2,500-seat Global Event
Center is often a packed house when
the likes of Don Henley, Brooks and
Dunne, Snoop Dogg, Alan Jackson,
Stone Temple Pilots, Train, Journey
or Darius Rucker are playing.
This year, WinStar World Casino
Brian Zanazanian was in the running for the top
country music venue in the U.S. At
the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in March,
WinStar World Casino was among the five nominees in the
category of Casino of the Year. Comedian and late night TV
host Craig Ferguson gave WinStar a nod on his March 1, 2010
show after performing there the previous weekend.
In the 2009 expansion of Winstar, we gained a thousand seats
in our Global Event Center where our concerts are held. But
even though it’s larger, it’s still a very intimate setting. So no
matter where you sit, you are close to some of the country’s
top performers. That experience combined with the big names
in country, pop, rock and alternative music genres are what
draws people in from all over the U.S.
We have had dozens of sold-out performances, such as
Kelly Clarkson, Zac Brown and Alan Jackson. I attribute it to
the size of the Global Event Center. There is simply not a bad
seat in the house. The seat you have in our Global Event
Center is the equivalent of a floor seat in other major venues.
Add the dining and gaming experience and it’s an attractive
enticing package.
HOTTEST TICKET: One of Winstar's most succesful
concerts was Lionel Richie this past February. It was the
perfect alignment, an icon with some of the most popular love
songs performed for a sold-out crowd celebrating Valentine's
Day. ♣