S moke S ignals
MAY 1, 2018
13
mpetition pays off
Leno says he thinks there are
many efforts by the Tribe that are
now paying dividends, including
the bypass contribution, casino
amenities such as the buffet and
free valet parking, and the recent
investments into the property.
Even small things, such as free soft
drinks on the casino floor, make an
impression on guests, Dillon says.
But, Leno said, for the serious
gambler, the big difference is the
kind of gaming allowed in Wash-
ington state and Oregon.
“To a real gamer, it’s about where
the odds are best for me to win
money, and that’s out here at Class
III,” Leno says.
Dillon concurs. He said he also
thinks Oregonians have a strong
allegiance to their state and that
gamers who are loyal to Spirit
Mountain Casino may have visit-
ed Ilani, but they have returned
to Grand Ronde for a variety of
reasons, include Las Vegas-style
games.
“We are a glorified locals casino,”
Dillon says. “Our main market is
Salem and when people come out
here they know us and it feels more
like home. That has an appeal of
its own.”
And then there is the issue of traf-
fic. Portland was recently ranked
as the 12th most congested city in
the United States and the drive
through the city on Interstate 5
both north and sound bound usu-
ally bottlenecks as multiple lanes
merge near the Columbia River
bridge crossing. Dillon says that
the other option, Interstate 205,
also is becoming more congested
as the Portland area increases in
population.
Although Ilani might be closer
as the crow flies, the drive time for
Portland residents can be equal or
even longer than the drive to Grand
Ronde.
The positive side of traffic, Leno
“The casinos I’ve seen that are
facing new competition that
don’t re-invest don’t do well.”
~ Spirit Mountain Casino General Manager Stan Dillon
says, is having the busiest highway
to the Oregon coast running right
by Spirit Mountain Casino.
“Nothing is going to take that
away 365 days a year,” Leno says.
“On a beautiful, sunny afternoon,
we still have that traffic going to
the Oregon coast.”
Dillon adds that when the Siletz
Tribe’s Chinook Winds Casino in
Lincoln City books big-name en-
tertainment that Spirit Mountain
Casino sees increased business
from people who stop off on their
way home to the Portland area.
Leno says that the years and
money spent fighting competition
– both Tribal and private – were
worth it because it gave the Grand
Ronde Tribe time to prepare.
“It helped us build our endow-
ments, it helped us plan and be
successful in what we’ve done at the
casino as far as re-doing the whole
floor and all of that stuff,” he says.
The new normal?
Dillon, however, does not think
the Grand Ronde Tribe and Spirit
Mountain Casino have reached the
“new normal” after only one year of
competition.
“The new normal, I don’t think
we know what that is yet,” he says.
“For us to identify what the new
norm will be is to look at now. They
did open in April, but they really
didn’t get going until May. So, May
through September, that first five
months is where we saw the larger
amount of the impact and then it
king Interstate 5 near La Center, Wash., while it was under construction in July 2016.
dwindled from there. Going into
this next five months will be what
really says what the long-term im-
pact will be.”
Dillon says Spirit Mountain Ca-
sino naturally saw an effect on its
customers who live in Vancouver
and northern Portland because of
the proximity issue, but that the ca-
sino has held its own with clientele
who live in the southern Portland
area and its suburbs.
Dillon cautions that there might
never be a new normal.
The Cowlitz Tribe and its ma-
jority investor, the Mohegan Tribe
of Connecticut, will continue to
invest in Ilani. A new events center
that can seat 2,500 concertgoers is
scheduled to open soon.
“The new norm isn’t over,” Dillon
says. “They’ve opened and they’re
not hitting their numbers. … They
are not as successful because they
haven’t been able to pull from us as
hard, nor from the (Oregon) lottery.
The lottery is getting stronger and
stronger with their new machines.
The lottery is truly the biggest
competitor that we have.
“I hate to say anything is ‘normal.’
If you are a company that opened a
casino. You invested $500 million.
You’re a very progressive gaming
company and you’re not hitting
your numbers, are you just going
to call that your normal? No. You’re
going to get very aggressive and
say, ‘What is it we’re doing? What
is it we have to do to make this
work?’ They are going to analyze
and strategize to figure out how
to get those numbers up. They’ve
already started their campaign of
reinvestment … They are going to
become more aggressive with big-
name entertainment, much bigger
than we can afford.”
Dillon says Ilani can leverage
being business partners with the
Mohegan Tribe and that big-name
performers can be booked at the
Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and
in southwestern Washington.
“The new norm is we’re going
to be competing for a while and
then as it gets older it will start to
stabilize,” Dillon says. “I do believe
over the next five months that I
don’t know that the impact will
be worse than we’ve seen. … We
have a smart competitor with a
huge amount of money and a lot of
resources. … For Round One, we’re
doing pretty good, but there are
other rounds to come and I think
it will get tougher.”
Dillon compliments Spirit Moun-
tain Casino staff members who
have worked hard on providing
good customer service, which has
helped retain many loyal custom-
ers.
“We are actually a much tougher
competitor than they estimated
and that probably surprised them,”
Dillon says.
As part of the “new normal,” Leno
says Spirit Mountain Casino has
identified Salem, with its approxi-
mately 170,000 residents, as more
of a main market. Spirit Mountain
Casino remains the closest gaming
facility to the second largest city in
Oregon.
“We were planning worst-case
scenario,” Leno says. “I think in-
stead of talking so much about
Cowlitz, it should have just been
talking about competition. We’re
going to have competition and we
need to get better at what we do.
And I think we have.”