Fire Rock Navajo Casino, the first casino to open in the Navajo Nation, celebrated its 11th anniversary last week.
The casino opened in Church Rock, near Gallup, New Mexico on November 19, 2008. It came after proponents finally persuaded the Navajo government to support a casino, after voters twice defeating measures that would have authorized it. Members, including the Navajo Nation’s president, Ben Shelby, feared that only tribal members would use the casinos, and that this would further exacerbate poverty.
The Navajo government engineered a do-around by ruling that there would be no casinos in the chapters that voted against it, but that it could build them in chapters that had voted yes. One of those was Church Rock.
That chapter wanted the extra jobs that would be created, and the percentage of the profits that would go to a host chapter.
When the casino opened, it drew thousands of visitors on opening day and on subsequent months. So great was the demand that the casino expanded to add more slot machines and parking spaces.
But Shelby’s prediction proved accurate, with 90 percent of patrons coming from the tribe.
The Navajo Gaming Enterprise was pressured to add a shuttle service to area hotels and motels to encourage non-tribal members to visit. The shuttles did as they were intended, nevertheless the early years of the casino were controversial because so much business came from within the tribe. This was especially noticeable on the first of the month, when welfare checks were cashed, and on paydays from the Navajo Nation.
The effect on Gallup businesses that served the reservation was noticeable too, because tribal members who used to spend money there were diverting some of it at the casino. Or at least that seemed to be the case.
However, studies by an independent company hired by the Navajo Gaming Enterprise later showed that it was actually the Great Recession that affected the local economy, including causing mortgage defaults and bank failures. The study showed the average amount loss by patrons visiting the casino was $20 per visit.
Eleven years after it opened the casino is seen as a positive investment by the enterprise. Brian Parrish, current interim chief executive officer, told the Navajo Times, “The casino has been profitable from the very beginning.”
One reason appears to have been that existing Navajo customers of nontribal casinos switched their loyalties, first to the Fire Rock and then to three other casinos the Navajo Nation built.
Another is that marketing efforts have been successful at bringing in non-Indians, such that they now make up almost two-thirds of the patrons.
Such that, in addition to creating hundreds of jobs for Navajos, it has shared $5 million with the tribe. Parrish told the Navajo Times, “Fire Rock Casino has led the way for all our properties providing invaluable leadership training and setting the standard for all gaming employees with their passion, dedication and work ethic.”
Future plans include adding sports betting and building a larger, more permanent facility nearby and possibly adding a hotel.
