Newcastle Casino

[u50254082]

Does anyone have the scoop on what the Chickasaw Nation plans to do with this place? It seems like this casino gets a lot of local marketing, with ads up inside the airport and I think a billboard or two along I44. Hard to say I've seen as much advertising for their "better" property Riverwind.

They recently added a large expansion to the original building, along with a rather over-sized multi-level parking garage that seems to hint at future plans.

I'm curious if they intend to grow the place into a massive resort at some point, given all the land they have access to and the location right along the interstate.

[bombermwc]

The last time i drove down the highway near there, I also thought it was very weird that they had such a large garage there. The Chickasaw tribe doesn't normally do things on a whim, so i would tend to agree that they have plans there. Very savvy business folk there.

[Dustin]

I think their expansion they completed a couple of years ago is all they plan to do. For now anyway.

They also opened a smaller casino across the street attached to the new Loves.

[mkjeeves]

I worked on building the original casino and the additions. I believe the primary purpose for the parking garage is to allow for covered and close parking to the casino so their clientele can get in and out of the building in all types of weather. There are lots of machines in that facility.

[u50254082]

Thanks for the info.

It just seems odd that the tribe wouldn't go all out on this location and really make it something fancy and on-par with the other casinos. Maybe it'll be a Winstar type strategy where they just build on chunk by chunk. I know that for a while, Winstar still had the old "tent building" that comprised the casino when it was first built. Maybe there's a law where the old bingo hall buildings got grandfathered in so they can't demolish and rebuild from scratch?

[rlewis]

I know that they did a huge customer survey at Newcastle a few years ago, and the consensus was that the customers did not want a glitzy resort type casino there. Instead they wanted it to stay blue-collar. So the Chickasaw Nation listened to their customers, and they have not really messed with that winning formula since then. There are not any laws preventing them from doing a complete redevelopment of the property. If you want a nicer looking casino, the thought is that you can go east to Riverwind for that.

[Zuplar]

I know that they did a huge customer survey at Newcastle a few years ago, and the consensus was that the customers did not want a glitzy resort type casino there. Instead they wanted it to stay blue-collar. So the Chickasaw Nation listened to their customers, and they have not really messed with that winning formula since then. There are not any laws preventing them from doing a complete redevelopment of the property. If you want a nicer looking casino, the thought is that you can go east to Riverwind for that.

Props to them for listening to the consumer and delivering a product they want. Sometimes bigger and newer isn’t always better.

[Dustin]

The clientele didn't want "glitzy" resort type casino? How about a clean one? I've been inside a couple of times and it is without a doubt one of the filthiest places in Oklahoma.

[rlewis]

The clientele didn't want "glitzy" resort type casino? How about a clean one? I've been inside a couple of times and it is without a doubt one of the filthiest places in Oklahoma.

A large part of that falls back on the employees, but patrons can be disgusting as well. As long as the place delivers financially, the level of cleanliness won't be scrutinized too closely.