For the 66,000-member Chickasaw Nation, the 12th largest federally recognized tribe, gaming remains the primary revenue generator although it lately has expanded into 60 non-gaming businesses that employ 13,000 people. The tribe owns WinStar World Casino Resort and 22 other gaming properties throughout 7,648 square miles of tribal land covering 13 counties in southern Oklahoma.
An economic study by Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University indicated in 2015, the Chickasaw Nation contributed more than $3.18 billion to the Oklahoma economy–a $750 million or 31 percent increase over $2.43 billion in 2011. Tribal Secretary of Commerce Bill Lance said nearly $180 million of that growth is due to non-gaming business revenue, up from $117 million 2011 to more than $296 million in 2015, or a 153 percent increase.
Lance said Tribal Governor Bill Anoatubby, serving his 32nd year, is behind the tribe’s business diversification activities which have provided a stable base for tribal-funded initiatives. “Business diversification always has been an integral part of his vision, which supports the tribe’s mission to enhance the overall quality of life of the Chickasaw people. The efforts toward economic development and business diversification efforts play an integral role in our goals of increasing our level of self-governance and self-determination,” Lance said.
However, he noted, “We’ve been able to leverage knowledge of and success in gaming to expand upon our core competencies into other businesses and industries.”
WinStar World General Manager Jack Parkinson said, “Like most American Indian properties, it started in a bingo hall in the middle of a field” in 1991. Today it features the largest casino floor in the U.S. at 698,000 square feet. “We’re a destination resort but we’re a regional casino. We want to concentrate on servicing our market and make sure we’re efficient at it,” Parkinson said.
The property, located on I-35 near the Texas state line, primarily attracts customers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, about 85 miles south. It’s one-half mile long, designed with an international theme based on nine cities and offers more than 8,000 slot and video gaming machines, 99 table games, a 55-table poker room, a bingo hall, an off-track betting lounge and high-limit gaming areas. The resort has 1,400-hotel rooms, 21 restaurants and bars and a 67,000 square foot convention center. WinStar World Golf features two 18-hole championship courses. Parkinson said “We compete with everybody, we compete with Las Vegas.”
Last September the casino announced a marketing and sponsorship agreement with the Dallas Cowboys—the first casino to partner with a National Football League team. “It was a natural marriage between the biggest casino and the biggest sports brand,” Parkinson said.
He pointed out WinStar World still has space for another hotel tower and the tribe is considering additional non-gaming attractions to better compete with the Choctaw Nation in neighboring Durant, which is adding a 1,000-room hotel tower and new restaurants, retail and a conference center to its Choctaw Casino and Resort, 55 miles away.
The Chickasaw’s gaming portfolio includes casinos, small casino-hotels and truck stops with slot machines. Through its LLC, Global Gaming Solutions, founded in 2008, the Chickasaws seek out opportunities beyond reservation land. It also helps support other tribes with gaming development and operations. Global Gaming Chief Executive Officer Skip Seeley said, “We’re actively looking for different areas that would be a good fit for us to pursue. The timing has to be right for this vehicle.”
In 2010, Global Gaming acquired the bankrupt Remington Park Racetrack in Oklahoma City and invested $15 million to remodel the suites and exterior and added two restaurants and 750 slot machines. In 2011, Global Gaming purchased another bankrupt facility, the Lone Star Park Racetrack in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Global Gaming renovated the backstretch and restaurant and added new suites and an off-track betting area.
The tribe’s nongaming assets include Bank2 in Oklahoma City and Solara Healthcare LLC, which operates eight hospitals in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana with more than 1,000 employees. Chickasaw Nation Industries Inc. has more than 2,000 employees and provides administrative, technical, construction, medical and information technology services to federal agencies.
The tribe also owns five radio stations and Bedré Fine Chocolate, which produces gourmet chocolates for retail, wholesale and corporate clients including private labeling options. Lance said, “Whatever the trends, strategic planning has been very important to the success of our business diversification efforts. Our leadership team is continuously searching for opportunities to develop new businesses and expand existing operations. They have been extremely successful in these efforts.”
