Cherokee Nation Businesses, which includes Cherokee Nation Entertainment, recently reported record revenue of 9 million for 2014, an increase of million over 2013. Net income was 5 million, an increase of 8 percent from 2013. And, according to an Oklahoma City University report, the Cherokee Nation had an economic impact of .55 billion in northeast Oklahoma—up nearly 50 percent since 2011–including a 0 million impact just in Tulsa County.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker commented, “When the Cherokee Nation is successful, all of Oklahoma benefits, and unlike other corporations, we’re not going anywhere.”
The study showed Cherokee Nation directly or indirectly supports more than 15,600 jobs and $645 million in wages throughout northeast Oklahoma. Tribal businesses and field offices are located throughout its jurisdiction, which covers all or part of 14 counties, with tribal headquarters in Tahlequah.
The tribe’s new $80 million casino in Roland, on the Oklahoma-Arkansas border, is expected to add to its ongoing success. The new facility will replace the tribe’s 50,000 square foot Cherokee Casino Roland operation, which opened as the Cherokee Nation Bingo Outpost in 1990, the tribe’s first gaming property. The old casino and hotel eventually will be demolished.
The property will feature 850 slots and table games, plus a poker room, and a 120-room hotel that will open in early July. It will create 300 new jobs.
General Manager Chad McReynolds said, “We want guests to understand when they’ve walked in the door, they’ve walked into an entertainment environment. It lets them know they’ve arrived somewhere special.”
Noted Baker, the Roland property may not be the tribe’s largest casino complex, but it reflects the best of its other operations. “This is first class. I’ll put this against anybody,” he said.
Cherokee Nation Entertainment is the wholly owned gambling, hospitality, retail and tourism arm of the Cherokee Nation. It runs the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa; seven Cherokee Casinos, including a horse racetrack; four other hotels; two golf courses; and retail outlets. Altogether it employs more than 3,800 people.
