$20M Hard Rock amphitheater targets frequent customers
By Kirby Lee Davis
The Journal Record
Posted: 09:43 PM Tuesday, May 4, 2010


Workers are busy constructing “The Joint,” a new entertainment venue at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa. The venue will seat 2,700 people and is slated to open in October. (Rip Stell)
TULSA – How much does Cherokee Nation Entertainment value its VIP customer satisfaction program?

Just start at $20 million.

That’s the cost of the 2,700-seat event center the Cherokee Nation’s gaming and hospitality arm will soon add to its Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa.

Named Tuesday as “The Joint,” the indoor amphitheater will host a number of revenue-producing concerts, conventions and other events. But CNE Chief Executive David Stewart said its primary role supports their campaign to attract VIPs, those frequent, heavy-spending customers who account for more than half of all CNE casino business.

As the top level in the Cherokee’s three-tiered player’s club system, VIPs represent 5 percent of Hard Rock spenders. When The Joint opens, their rewards will include free event center tickets and access to nine luxury suites. Stewart expects the Hard Rock to give away 20 to 30 percent of The Joint event tickets under that player’s club program.

“Those good players are what the whole system is about,” Stewart said Tuesday before a media tour of the facility, under construction by Tulsa-based Flintco for an October opening. “The VIP customer service program is designed to accommodate their needs.”

The Cherokees have started booking events for October and November. Stewart could not release booking activity.

Designed by the architectural firm Thalden Boyd Emery, the 45,000-square-foot facility fulfills many concert expectations implied by the Hard Rock name. It also creates a large meeting area to enhance the casino’s 40,000 square feet of convention space.

That allows the Cherokees to market their facility to groups needing gathering space for 1,500 to 2,500 individuals. While that represents a small number of convention groups, Stewart sees it as a growth opportunity.

“There’s not anything out there like it,” he said of competing Tulsa complexes. “It’s a piece of the total package we offer.”

Continuing the circular architecture adorning other sections of the $155 million Hard Rock additions, the venue entrance will offer two bars open only during events.

The spreading auditorium features an area for private parties, a small platform for standing patrons and the half-ring of luxury suites.

“We’re not really interested in selling those,” Stewart said of the suites. “They’re for our better customers.”

Curtains may cordon off seating sections for smaller venues. A pit around the stage accommodates up to 600 for a more intimate performance setting, with two 14-inch projection screens providing enhanced views.

The center provides five dressing rooms for guest artists.

“We have a few acts lined up,” Stewart said. “We’re not really allowed to tell who those are yet.”

The center should provide another boost for the expanding casino, which through the first four months of 2010 matched its 2009 performance. With the national gaming sector down 15 percent or more this year, Stewart considers CNE’s performance quite strong.

With the Cherokee’s new Ramona casino to debut in a temporary facility within 90 days, and The Joint opening some two months after that, Stewart expects to build on the Hard Rock investment to regain positive revenue growth in 2010.

“The value proposition is what people want,” he said. “They want to go to one spot to have fun and not have to spend a lot of money. We deliver that.”

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