Cherokees to gamble on non-smokers with its $125M Catoosa casino

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Dec 3, 2007 by Kirby Lee Davis

Cherokee Nation Enterprises will gamble on attracting a nonsmoking audience with its $125 million Catoosa casino expansion.

As with nearly all casinos, the tribe's flagship now maintains a smoke-free gaming policy only in its poker area, which Chief Executive David Stewart said represents about a third of its 80,000 square feet of gaming space.

But since that area is bracketed by connected smoking sections, even an environmental system that recycles the air about every eight minutes fails to screen out all the second-hand smoke.

"I think there's another 10 to 20 percent of the marketplace that we are not reaching because of that," said Stewart.

The 21-story addition scheduled for completion year-end 2008 will feature 30,000 square feet of gambling space, injecting another 750 games to a facility that already offers more than 1,500. But nearly all of the new space, which will intersect with Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill, will provide a smoke-free environment.

Stewart admitted that pioneering non-smoking gaming space presents a challenge - one the Cherokees will not experiment with at their other casinos.

But with the Catoosa revenues up 15 to 18 percent from last year, he believes the giant operation will tap new markets and customers under that strategy.

"I think we'll continue to see moderate increases this year while we provide a new facility, new entertainment," he said.

That non-smoking strategy will coincide with the projected growth in its hotel and convention business. The expansion includes 40,000 square feet of convention space, all smoke-free. Non-smoking audiences also should be attracted to the expansion's 2,500-seat concert hall.

Stewart even expects some existing Cherokee customers to take advantage of the tobacco-free environment.

"We think we can do this and not disenfranchise our existing customer base," he said, a "high percentage" of which smoke. "It's critical that we not do that."

What are the chances the entire casino could go smoke-free?

"Virtually impossible," he said with a smile. "As evidenced by all the other casinos in the industry."