Seminoles to spend USD 100 million on hotel-casino upgrades

According to financial reports, the tribe earned more than US$ 2 billion in gambling revenues during the past 12 months

On Friday, Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming, said during a ceremony marking the casino-hotel's 10th anniversary that the Hollywood facility runs at 98 percent capacity, and on Fridays and Saturdays it entertains more than 40,000 people. 

Allen said the total outlay for 2014 for the tribe's seven properties will be US$ 100 million. He claims some of the money will go toward building a hotel next to the Immokalee casino and some will go toward adding a food court at the Seminole Classic casino in Hollywood.

According to financial reports, the tribe earned more than US$ 2 billion in gambling revenues during the past 12 months. The hotel-casinos part of the take amounts to this: Seminole Hard Rock, about US$ 600 million; Tampa Hard Rock, the only casino in Central Florida, about US$ 900 million. The Tampa Hard Rock, one of the biggest economic drivers for the Tampa Bay region, celebrated its 10th anniversary on March 11.

The Seminoles claim the Tampa Hard Rock is the sixth largest casino in the world. They base that on the number of gaming positions, or seats at gaming tables, or slot machines. The casino floor is now bigger than five football fields combined. 

Florida has seen some debates on allowing commercial casinos to build mega-resorts in South Florida, but that possibility has been shelved for 2014. Tribal casinos don’t want commercial firms like Las Vegas Sands to come into the mix.