Oklahoma-based tribe The Muscogee (Creek) Nation has opened a $100m casino-hotel in its home state city of Tulsa. Coweta Casino Hotel opened Tuesday after the tribe’s leaders and the facility’s owner/operator Muscogee Nation Gaming Enterprises (MNGE) cut a ceremonial ribbon to mark the occasion.
According to Indian Gaming, the casino-hotel named after the Tulsa suburb it is located in replaces the tribe’s former Coweta casino with a 35,000sq ft casino stocked with 750 “state-of-the art gaming machines.”
A Tulsa report revealed the construction of Coweta Casino Hotel supported an estimated 501 jobs and generated $22.6m in income to create a total economic impact of $132.5m.
A news release stated the now opened casino-hotel has created an additional 596 direct and indirect jobs expected to make “$27.5m in new annual income.”
huge boost to other local small businesses in town.”
Coweta Chamber of Commerce and VP of BancFirst Coweta Joe Matlock stated the 250+ permanent new jobs “will be a huge boost to other local small businesses in town.”
Coweta Mayor Naomi Hogue said the city valued its partnership with the tribe, while Tulsa Regional Tourism Senior Vice President Renee McKenney said the tourism body was “so grateful to the Muscogee Nation for their continued partnership and investment in the region.”
MNGE Chief Operations Officer Andy Langston, meanwhile, expressed the tribe’s confidence in its $100m strategic investment as it prepares to compete with the Cherokee, Choctaw and dozens of other tribal casinos. “As we expand into Coweta, we do so with purpose,” Langston stated.
