“The goal of this business is to set realistic and continued goals for growth,” he said. While nothing is ever certain, for now the future is looking good. While Valley River brought most of the growth, both locations are doing well, said Saunooke, with margins improving at both properties. The expansion is expected to open in 2021.

Construction is underway on a $250 million expansion that will add more than 700 hotel rooms, a parking deck and an 83,000-square-foot event center. Not much has changed with the resort’s offerings over the past year, but that’s soon to change.

Cherokee, meanwhile, is a case of “same store,” said Saunooke. Recent improvements at Valley River may have also played a role - the casino held a grand opening for an addition offering bowling, dining, a stage and arcade games on July 23. Most of the increase comes from known customers, said Saunooke - people who have chosen Valley River as their preferred casino over Cherokee or are simply able to make additional trips due to the shorter drive from home. Visitation at Valley River has increased from 851,000 visits in fiscal year 2016, the first full year the casino was open, to 862,000 visits in 2018. Players are able to make more frequent visits, and that really helped us during the year.” “I think one of the major things that contributes to that is the proximity to some of our major markets, especially Atlanta. “Most of the big growth we saw came from the Valley River market,” said Saunooke.

Valley River provided 24 percent of the profits while 76 percent came from Cherokee. While December payments are typically larger than June payments - they reflect summer profits from April to September, while the June payments cover profits from October to March - the $1,455 gap between the two payments this year is wider than usual.Īccording to Saunooke, this year’s growth was primarily driven by the Valley River Casino in Murphy. The December distribution represents a marked increase over even the June payment, when 15,709 members received $5,552. Nestled within the Smokies is one of the country’s oldest tribal museums.

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