Mark Birtha, president of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain

"Hard Rock Sacramento is the catalyst to see the entire region around us develop"

"We think it's a great opportunity for other tribal enterprises and other developers to see this property and basically get an idea of what a very strong regional hotel casino Hard Rock property would look like for them," Mark Birtha says.
2019-12-17
Reading time 19:02 min
Birtha tells Yogonet this is a project that's never been done in that market, and that it’s also a milestone as the brand looks to roll out more hotel casinos on the West Coast under the Hard Rock International umbrella. He believes it opens the door for future expansion, business opportunities between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Enterprise Rancheria, and between HRI and other tribes throughout the US as well.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain, in Northern California, opened its doors over a month ago, on October 30, becoming the first Hard Rock hotel casino property in the US West Coast. The project is the first of its kind, as it's the first east coast-west coast alignment and partnership between two tribes to create this integrated resort —the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Enterprise Rancheria Tribe.

Mark Birtha, president of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento, tells Yogonet they can bring people in not only locally and regionally but from throughout the Western United States, as well as around the world. He believes they can grow the market in a material way, in both gaming and non-gaming, benefiting all stakeholders, locally and regionally.

The property brought new-to-market technology, and Birtha underlines that technology has become absolutely a necessity in terms of not only the products and services, but also in raising the bar and the experience, in some cases being a competitive differentiator.

How would you assess the casino opening week?

We are surprised by the interest level and the traffic that we've had in the building, it really surpassed our expectation at pretty much every level. We had a soft opening on October 30, we had a number of dignitaries and local political people, including the lieutenant governor here as well as a number of our corporative executives and of course our ownership and the Seminole Tribe of Florida as well. We did our guitar smash ceremony, we opened our doors on the night of October 30, and literally from the moment we opened our doors through the entire weekend we had very significant volume. Over the course of the three-day weekend, we had over 50,000 people through the building, and so that surpassed our expectations in pretty much every area of the operation. From headcount, to coin in, to restaurant covers, to new signups, every metric that we measure particularly in an opening was surpassed. So the volume continued, we had a grand opening concert on Saturday, November 2, that featured Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Def Leppard from Britain, and it was close to a sold-out show at Toyota Amphiteatre. Even Live Nation was surprised. We wrapped that up with a fireworks show, and that Saturday I saw volumes at this property that were absolutely phenomenal. On Saturday alone we had over 26,000 people through the doors. So it was just a tremendous grand opening: pretty much everything that we anticipated and all our expectations were surpassed. It was a great opening week.

Can we expect further surprises in the coming months?

Yes, we have a lot of activities. Obviously, we're looking to build our visibility in the market now that we are open, so we have a lot of advertising that's rolling out in the market that will continue going into next year. We're going to have a significant player development program, special events and VIP, invitational programs. The months of November and December we have our million-dollar cars and cash giveaway program, so that promotion runs for 60 days and it literally gives away a million dollars or more in cash prizes and cars. And then we have two Asian concerts, one on Thanksgiving Day, and one on Christmas Day, which we intend to use to focus on that demographic in the marketplace. We have all kinds of new signup incentives, including a tier match program where guests with the players’ top cards can have a tier match to another competitive property and get instant benefits. We rolled out our Rock Star Salute program on Veterans Day, aimed at both active military members as well as veterans, giving them incentives and recognizing them with our benefits program specific to active military and veterans. So, we've got programming very well situated, and very well established for the remaining weeks of the year and as we roll into the first quarter of 2020, we have a very robust marketing, entertainment and events program. We have a lot of things to look forward to.

What are your expectations for this property, both for the initial operations and in the long term?

Clearly our focus is on building our database, driving visitation, really creating a marketing program that's competitive as well as innovative in the market. We're rolling out a number of benefits and amenities over the course of the next year that we believe will be unique and competitive differentiators. Obviously getting more people to enjoy our restaurants: we have six fantastic restaurants, including our signature Council Oak Steaks & Seafood, which people have been raving about already, over the course of the first weekend. Our Hard Rock cafe, where we have been averaging over 2,000 covers for lunch and dinner. It's really revving up every revenue center of our building. Selling the hotel: we were 100% sold out the opening weekend. Working with our neighbor, Live Nation to do a more robust concert series at the Toyota Amphitheatre next door next year. Creating these "authentic experiences that rock," that is what we call them in Hard Rock, to not only be competitive in the market, but really grow the market, that's our focus. We believe as a brand, as a product offering, as a team of 1,300 passionate band members, we really believe we can bring people in not only locally and regionally but from throughout the Western United States, as well as around the world that love the Hard Rock brand and will visit this property to have the newest experience in the Hard Rock portfolio. So we think we can grow the market in a material way, in both gaming and non-gaming, that I think will benefit everybody, locally and regionally.

What differences and similarities could you mention as compared to other recent openings, such as Hollywood and Tampa in Florida?

I think clearly similarities are the passionate hospitality and the delivery of great experiences that our teams are focused on. I think another similarity is at every one of our properties, entertainment is always a key ingredient that we offer. We have Def Leppard, in Tampa they had Keith Urban, in Hollywood they had Maroon Five, so we all feature these entertainment experiences, I think there's a connectivity amongst all our properties where our customers have the benefit of being able to play in a property locally and then go and visit another one anywhere in the country and have benefits at other Hard Rocks. They all pride themselves on great quality of design, great food products, so in many ways, whether they're bigger, smaller, whatever the size they are, whatever the amenities they offer, we really remain consistent with our benefits program, our experience we offer, the training our team members get, the different types of hospitality experiences that we deliver each and every day. Technology-wise, gaming products-wise, we tend to offer very similar services and experiences at each of our properties. Differentiators run the gamut, obviously every property has some sort of difference. I think what’s unique, every one of our properties really focuses on the local market and whether it's our memorabilia, like we have Johnny Cash here very well featured because of the Folsom Prison experience that he was part of (Folsom is about forty minutes away from our property). And so we have memorabilia that represents entertainers here in the local market that came from here or were significantly represented here. We have some new technologies that we’re rolling out here at our property that we believe other Hard Rocks will see the success of those new systems and they will probably adopt in the future. We are owned by the Enterprise Rancheria tribe here in California and this is a significant partnership between a West Coast Native American sovereign nation and an East Coast one with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. We think there’s future expansion and opportunity to grow and bring more amenities to the market here. So there's a number of things that are very similar at each property and things that are very different, depending on the Hard Rock that you’re at all around the world.

          We think we can grow the market in a material way, in both gaming and non-gaming, which will benefit everybody, locally and regionally

What could this east coast-west coast partnership between Native American entities bring for the US gaming industry, and Hard Rock in particular?

I think this is a significant milestone for a number of reasons. First and foremost, this is the first hotel casino that Hard Rock International has built on the West Coast, west of Mississippi, since we bought the rights back from Brookfield about three years ago. So this is our first landmark destination integrated resort that the company is very proud of, and it's our first hotel casino in California. So clearly that's a milestone as we look to roll out more hotel casinos on the West Coast of the United States under the Hard Rock International umbrella. So that's a major milestone. More importantly, this is the first significant relationship between two Native American tribes in the gaming space, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Enterprise Rancheria tribe. This would not have happened if it wasn't for the vision of the Tribal Council of the Enterprise Rancheria, specifically Glenda Nelson, the chairwoman of the Enterprise Rancheria tribe, in partnership with the Seminole tribe and Marcellus W. Osceola Jr., tribal chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. They have very very similar histories, backgrounds and stories, so there was an immediate connection between the two tribes that have had to fight for the opportunities that they’ve secured. So not only was it a milestone in having the tribes come together and bond, and build and open a 450 million dollar destination resort together; more importantly, it opens the door for future expansion, business opportunities between these two tribes, and between Hard Rock International and other tribes throughout the United States as well. It really raised the bar, set a new precedent... It's a really good story in the sense that these are owned by communities of people, and the benefits go back to them. Whether it's health care, wellness, education, infrastructure, housing, the benefits of the ownership of these properties go right back into the communities of people that have invested in these types of developments. So this is the first chapter of a very long story that will have many more chapters in the future.

          I think what’s unique, every one of our properties really focuses on the local market

How was the process, difficulties and capacities involved in order to have the hotel and casino entirely built in just 15 months?

It was a very fast construction schedule. We had very strong partners in Moorefield-Yates, our contractors, subcontractors as well as with our design company Friedmutter Group, and of course all of our vendors. I think the only way that you could pull off a project that quickly, be on time and on budget, is if you have the strength of what we have at Hard Rock International. We have a tremendous resource, in Florida, in our corporate office, the shared services, and you have people on the ground that are able to manage and develop a property in the market. We have great vision and leadership with Jim Allen, our CEO, and Jon Lucas, our COO, and others that have contributed to the project. So we have a lot of resources that allow us to take basically a template that we have within the company, modify it in the local market that we're building in, and execute on our project with a fast track, which allows us to be successful. I mean there's always challenges. The labor market here for construction is very challenging... I mean, this is a new project that's never been done here in this market, in terms of finishes and the quality level, amenities, services, technology that we've implemented. But again, because Hard Rock is a fifty-year-old company and we've been building casinos for over 20 years, we have a lot of experience, we have a lot of relationships. So we're able to meet the challenges upfront and basically work through them with our partners on the construction side, on the vendor side, on the technology side, the business side. And basically because we do this, we opened other properties this year and expansions, and we continue to learn and improve our properties each and every time that make us better and better. That allows this project to be successful from that perspective.

In June you had your first product introduction to Northern California with the Hard Rock Social Gaming platform. What progress and feedback has that shown so far, and what could that say ahead of the casino opening? What role does it play in your market entry strategies?

We used it as a tool for not only revenue purposes, but more importantly for the acquisition of people into our database, as well as for visibility of the brand here coming to the market. You get people aware of what we've been doing with regards to the project. I think that was a very effective tool for all of those different strategies. In the short time that we've had it go live, not even being open, we've already managed to be the fourth-highest revenue producer and acquisition database provider within the social gaming side of all the Hard Rock properties. That's very good. I think really what it's allowing us to do now is to build long-term relationships with our customers, to offer them amenities and services and products, experiences off-site, and then most importantly to engage them to come back to the property whether through social gaming or through incentives that we're offering at the property. It allows us to continue that relationship on site, off site, and really synthesize those platforms to bring people to our property to have a great experience. It's a tool that we have that is very competitive in the market. I think it's going to lead the market here in Northern California, with product offering and integration, efficiency and effectiveness for our customers. The guest interface is very very user-friendly, and so it's been a very strong positive. More of our properties are rolling out our social gaming platform, and I think it will continue to build momentum not only here at the property, but all throughout the world literally. It also begins to help us build the infrastructure and some of the tools that we will need to have if and when sports betting becomes more of a resource, an available amenity here in the California market

In April you announced a team of seven new executive leaders for the property. What have they brought to the project, and what specific goals have they set for this casino development? 

I'm glad you brought that up. We were able to hire seven vice presidents; some of them came from the local marketplace, most of them came from either other Hard Rock properties in the company (two came from our Ohio property, and one came from our Florida property in Tampa). So many of them came from other competitive marketplaces throughout the entire country. The great thing for us is that all seven of them are still here today, and all of them had opening experience, so we built a very strong team. I can easily say that in my 25-year career, this is the strongest executive team that I've ever had, combining over two hundred years of experience in the industry. And so when you bring that kind of experience together, it allows us to build a great team of individuals at the director level, the manager level, the supervisor and then of course 1,300 employees in the building that really are focused on creating a culture that is exceptional, very guest friendly, and very team focused. Also having a focus on creating superb experiences. So in every area of our building there are certain things that guests will see and experience and interact with that will basically "wow" them. We focus very heavily on having a lot of Hard Rock amenities and touches and surprises, and things that we know our customers will be very impressed with. Guests want to come back and share those experiences. We've also been able to raise the bar with some of the technology offerings because the team is so dynamic and experienced that we've been able to introduce technologies in this building that are new to the market. I think they will help to raise the bar within our company and within the industry. I told all the team members they have a unique experience and an opportunity here that as part of an opening, they can all leave their fingerprints on this building whether they're here for a few years, or twenty-five years. They all have this unique opportunity to create the dynamic culture, design and build the operation, staff it with the people they want to have, and really create experiences for our guests. This is something that will have a long-term legacy that we all know that we've participated and contributed with our ownership, the Enterprise Rancheria tribe and their vision and culture and background, and just create something here that will stand the test of time. We've had the opportunity to be part of that development and that experience.

          Our social gaming platform begins to help us build the infrastructure we will need if and when sports betting becomes more of a resource

How would you assess California's regulation framework regarding your business areas, as compared to other jurisdictions where Hard Rock has operations? What improvements could be made in order to optimize the business and for the benefit of all stakeholders?

Every marketplace, every jurisdiction that I've been in, I've seen a different regulatory body. We are regulated by the NIGC (National Indian Gaming Commission), as well as the California Gaming Commission. We've been able to establish a local Enterprise Rancheria gaming commission here, and they have built from the ground up. Clearly there are different nuances here in this marketplace, specifically tribal gaming and California requirements that we had to learn. They have been very groundbreaking, and others have been things that we've been used to, so it runs the gamut. But I think the tribal commission here has been very proactive and flexible, and it's really effective to adapt a lot of the things that already existed in the California structure and working with the NIGC. We take the best practices from all these different situations and adapt them here, and then be flexible in the market with our leadership team to address things that were unique, innovative to prevent roadblocks and to ensure that we were prepared for success. For that we met every regulatory and compliance expectation that was needed to ensure the building is operating appropriately. And more importantly, we also have regulatory people in our corporate office in Florida, who have been on the ground here working with the commission, working with the operations people to ensure that we have the same standard expectations and high level of excellence in everything that we do. And so, in many cases we were able to have a brand standard or appropriate SOP (standard operating procedures) in place. In other cases where it was unique or different, we were able to basically turn on a dime and introduce new regulatory SOPs that met the compliance expectation as well as work very favourably with the operator. So it was a very very close relationship among all of the different entities, and I think it allowed us to be very streamlined, very efficient and hopefully very successful for the long term. 

What is your approach for sports betting business, and what are your plans and expectations for this vertical?

We're very excited about the future. Clearly California is looking at the opportunities and all of these different spaces with sports betting, online gaming and other opportunities as well. They've been very forthcoming with reaching out to the various tribal entities these days, and the good news is that our lobbyist, as well as the tribal council within the Enterprise Rancheria, have already been having these conversations for the past year or more. Recently they were down in Southern California meeting with other tribes, regulators, government officials, taking the lead and being a participant in the overall conversation related to these amenities and what it's going to take to have the regulatory requirements, the operating requirements and the right tools in place that will meet the needs of all of us collectively. I don't know when it's going to be, obviously it's very early and there's a discussion on process. We're hoping the next couple of years that will be something we'll have available. We see it as something that will be another amenity we can offer to our clients. It will be a revenue generator, an enhancement to our properties. I think that all of the native American gaming operators in the state fairly consistently feel that it's an amenity that should be managed and provided by the tribal gaming enterprises. We are working with our political partners and the state to adopt something that we believe will be friendly to customers and will be very successful for operators and regulators that will mirror other jurisdictions throughout the country. 

          We're hoping the next couple of years sports betting will be something we'll have available

What were your criteria and priorities when you chose your gaming suppliers and technology partners? What further insights could you provide on your distinctive and new-to-market technologies

Technology is absolutely a key. Beyond the people that we hire and the building that we create and design, technology has become absolutely a necessity in terms of not only the products and services we offer, but also in raising the bar and the experience, in some cases being a competitive differentiator. Here we have very strong and established relationships through Hard Rock International with all of the different vendors. So the minute that they knew we were going to be building something here, we had a long list of proven vendors and business partners that were ready to go and help us to build the right systems and tools here to support our business. I can say in earnest that we had a flawless opening and none of our systems had any material issues or downtimes, and that's really a tribute to the partners and the vendors and our support team in Florida. We made sure we had the right systems in place to provide the right experience for the guest, to be efficient and for us to be effective in managing our business. We also challenged them to raise the bar and offer us tools and systems opportunities that were new, that were differentiated, and product offerings that were unique in the market. For example, the JCM program that we have in place, nobody here in the marketplace does. We introduced the BOSS (Beverage Ordering Service System), the beverage on demand system, here in the market through Scientific Games, that already has been very well appreciated by our customers because they can order drinks right on the game. In a matter of minutes they can customize their drinks and order their favorites, it is very convenient. We have Self-Pay Jackpot, which is really unique in the entire state of California. Guests can literally sign up and when they win a jackpot they are paid right there at the game, instead of having to wait to have attendants come over and pay out the jackpot. We have a credit program as well that's very unique in the market that allows us to fulfill credit lines right at our games directly. So there's technology like that enhances our experience on the gaming floor, in our restaurant, in our hotel, in our entertainment space and it's a very robust list of different amenities that we're offering here in our building that we believe raises the bar, not only in the company, but also clearly in the marketplace. We are very proud of, and very appreciative of, our partners bringing this all to the table.

What does this new property represent for Hard Rock, and the US West Coast? What are your expectations and plans for this region?

This is a landmark destination in the Hard Rock portfolio. It creates an entertainment destination on the West Coast and a flagship for us to not only celebrate the success and the visibility of the Hard Rock brand, but more importantly, it creates the first steps of a long-term partnership between these tribal nations. We intend and hope to have future expansion and so we'll see more gaming, more hotel rooms and more entertainment here at the property in the future. So we're already starting to look at potential master planning opportunities for the years to come. We think it's a great opportunity for other tribal enterprises and other developers to see this property and basically get an idea of what a strong regional hotel casino Hard Rock property would look like for them and be a template for other developments within the company with other partners throughout the country. And so, we look forward to a long-term success. Obviously, this is a day-to-day business, but it's a long-term vision, and our tribal ownership has a long-term vision. It took them 17 years to get to this point, and they very much are looking to reinvest for the future. It's exciting to have a grand opening that was well-executed. It just shows the strength of our ownership, strength of our management, strength of our team members, what we've created here, all the different aspects that I've spoken about earlier all coming together and creating this property and this experience that really raises the bar, not only in the market but the entire industry. And we're excited about the future. We sit on the 900-acre "sports and entertainment masterplan zone," and we believe that we are the catalysts now to see the entire region around us develop with retail, dining, entertainment and sports programming, housing, commercial real estate, and other destinations that reinvest in the market over the years to come. So it's a very good story, and we're excited about what we have to bring to the market and what we are going to do to entertain our customers each and every day here, and build long-term relationships with guests over the years.

Juan Ignacio Grille
by Juan Ignacio Grille
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