SAN DIEGO – Nobody will mistake the Jamul Casino for Sycuan, Barona, Viejas or any of the other of the large Southern California Indian resorts that offer hotel rooms, spas, pools, golf and other non-gaming amenities.
That’s quite okay with the Jamul Indian Village.
The tribe toiled for more than a decade to realize their dream of opening a casino on a four-acre parcel of historical land 20 miles east of downtown San Diego, surrounded by rolling hills, hiking trails and the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge.
The property opened in 2016 as the Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego under the management of regional gaming giant Penn National Gaming. Nineteen months later, the Jamul tribe took ownership of its own destiny.
Tribal Chairwoman Erica M. Pinto
“From day one it was always our intent to control our future by managing our property and economic ventures,” said Jamul Tribal Chairwoman Erica M. Pinto. “It took us more than two decades to open and operate our casino. We are very proud that with tribal gaming, we have been able to create new opportunities for our people and the entire state of California.”
Jamul Casino has 200,000 square feet of public space, operates 1,700 slot machines, 50 live gaming tables, a poker room, and has eight different restaurants, including a food court. A sports bar is dedicated to the late San Diego Padres outfielder Tony Gwynn.
An outdoor patio attached to the Loft 94 Beer Garden overlooks the region.
The property didn’t open without controversy. A small vocal group of Jamul residents opposed the casino because they felt it would take away from the area’s rural setting. A handful of hand-painted “no casino” signs still dot the area.
Jamul is a gaming focused property, and the tribe prides itself on having the closest casino to downtown San Diego while providing jobs for 1,000 employees.
“The Jamul Casino is one the largest employer in East County San Diego, and we are proud to employ and support so many families in the area,” said Pinto, who has been chairwoman since 2015. The tribe has committed $90 million for public safety, including road improvements in the area. The tribe also purchased two fire trucks for Cal Fire that are located in the station across Highway 94 from the casino.
Jamul Casino
The San Diego market
Once Penn National left the picture – the regional casino operator funded a $94 million loan for the property’s development and construction – the Jamul Casino fell off Wall Street’s radar.
However, analysts had a good understanding of San Diego gaming and where the property fit.
“It’s a competitive market, and often quite promotional, which makes it difficult for a new property to ramp,” said Union Gaming Group analyst John DeCree. “Jamul had its challenges out of the gate, but it is a well-built and solid gaming product, it’s just going to take some time to ramp.”
Southern California economist Alan Meister, who produces the annual Indian Gaming Industry Report for Casino City, doesn’t comment on specific tribes, but is quite familiar with the heated Southern California competition for customers.
The region has seen an estimated $1.5 billion in spending in the past few years, which includes Jamul’s opening. Recently Pechanga – which sits at the boundary just north of San Diego County in the Riverside County community of Temecula, spent more than $300 million to add new non-gaming amenities. In March, Sycuan opened a $260 million hotel expansion and other amenities. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported eight of the region’s 10 casinos have been under construction to varying degrees over the last five years.
“The overall Southern California gaming market is very competitive, with quite a number of Native American casinos,” Meister said. “The San Diego area, with Barona, Viejas, Sycuan, and Jamul, is very crowded.”
California’s Indian casinos produced $8.4 billion in revenue in 2016, roughly $2 billion more than the Las Vegas Strip. The accounts for 27 percent of the overall revenue nationwide.
Meister expects Indian casinos in California – and nationwide – to grow non-gaming amenities at their facilities – additional hotel rooms, restaurants, shopping and other features – in an effort to diversify the product. He said tribes are also looking at new types of gaming opportunities, such as sports betting, skill-based slot machines and eSports.
Gambling-focused
For now, those attraction’s are not the radar for Jamul tribe, which, with Penn’s departure, brought in Mary Cheeks, a seasoned East Coast casino executive, as CEO. Cheeks, who grew up in Atlantic City and worked for several Atlantic City hotels, came from Rush Street Gaming, where she was general manager of the Rivers Casino in Schenectady, New York, and was an executive with the company’s Sugar House Casino in Philadelphia.
Mary Cheeks, CEO
Cheeks said Jamul Casino is not only “gaming focused, but customer focused” as well.
“Jamul Casino is a beautiful boutique casino and our guests are familiar to us and want to be known by their first names,” Cheeks said. “We are able to focus on our guest preferences and provide excellent customer service.”
The casino lacks a hotel and other non-gaming attractions but does focus on food and beverage options.
When Penn National left the picture, the tribe removed all branding and identification associated with the Hollywood theme.
The players club became the Sweetwater Rewards program, the upscale steakhouse was rebranded to Prime Cut, the Hollywood & Grind cafe became simply, The Coffee Shop, and the Rodeo Drive gift shop is now Jamul Trading Co.
The casino’s billboard advertising touts gaming and the casino’s proximity to downtown.
Tony Gwynn memorabilia
In addition to Cheeks, the tribe reached out for additional gaming experience for the executive staff. Chief Financial Officer Cathy Behnen was corporate controller of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Chief Marketing Officer Scott Bauer came from Viejas.
One gaming aspect potentially on the horizon in California is legal sports betting. Casino leaders point to the Tony Gwynn’s Sports Pub, with its expansive number of television monitors, as potential location for the sportsbook.
Growth and expansion
As the Jamul Tribe nears its one-year anniversary operating that casino, Pinto said the tribal council is considering expansion opportunities.
A four-acre parcel adjacent to the casino along Highway 94 is being designated for a potential 200-room hotel. However, the land is currently going through the federal approval process of being taken into trust, which Pinto said could take up to three years.
Asked about the other non-gaming amenities she would like to add to the Jamul site, Pinto coyly smiled and suggested a barber shop.
“We at Jamul are open minded and innovative, so we would consider expansion when the time is right,” Pinto said. “We prefer to keep our options open, as long as it includes a barber shop! I think a barber shop would be pretty cool.”
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
