Hard Rock Casino set to debut "Rocksino" in historical gold mining community of Deadwood.
The Hard Rock Rocksino is officially opening its doors in the historical town of Deadwood on Tuesday. The boutique casino and hotel, once known as Hickok's Hotel & Gaming, is located on Main Street.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Steve Slowey purchased Hickock's for $4 million. He then teamed up with Oswald Entertainment, a company with roots in Deadwood and Nashville, and they announced plans to rebrand the property in May.
Marc Oswald, CEO of Oswald Entertainment, was an original partner for the Deadwood Mountain Grand, which opened in 2013. Oswald is also a music promoter in Nashville and produces the "Deadwood Live! Open Air Music Series" each summer in Outlaw Square. The music venue is right next to the Hard Rock Rocksino.
Making a Deal with Hard Rock
In May, Slowey and Oswald reached a deal with Hard Rock International, the Florida-based casino and hospitality conglomerate owned by the Seminole Tribe, to transform the old Hickok's into Deadwood's "finest boutique hotel-gaming-restaurant-retail operation."
While most Hard Rock hotels boast hundreds or thousands of rooms, the Deadwood location only has 28 guestrooms. Oswald explained that this means the Hard Rock brand will draw new guests to the area, benefiting more than just their property.
"With only 28 hotel rooms, the traffic we expect to bring to Deadwood is going to result in a lot of spillover traffic," Oswald said. "We believe the rising tide lifts all boats."
The Hard Rock Rocksino's gaming area is also much smaller than a typical Hard Rock casino. There are only 86 slot machines, which is a far cry from the over 5,000 found at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa. No live dealer table games are offered.
Oswald said they chose the "Rocksino" name to differentiate the Deadwood property from Hard Rock's larger-scale casino resorts.
"The reason it's called Rocksino by Hard Rock is because it's a boutique Hard Rock casino and hotel. It's a Hard Rock experience in a small setting," Oswald said during an interview with News Center 1, an NBC affiliate in Rapid City.
Although the Deadwood Rocksino is a novelty addition to the town, Hard Rock has used the "rocksino" term before. They used it for the Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park near Cleveland, which closed when MGM Resorts purchased the property in 2018 for over $1 billion.
After a soft opening, Deadwood's Hard Rock Rocksino will have its grand opening at 5 p.m. MDT on August 8. To celebrate, city officials, local property owners, tribal leaders, and celebrity guests will be smashing guitars around 6 p.m. Hard Rock usually holds a "Grand Opening Guitar Smash" at their new cafes, hotels, and resorts.
"Get ready 2 ROCK DEADWOOD!" a tweet from the Rocksino by Hard Rock reads. As an entertainment destination, Hard Rock is known for raising the bar, and their Deadwood casino is no exception."
But Deadwood officials didn't approve of all of Hard Rock's plans. In June, they rejected the company's application to erect a large guitar on the Rocksino's facade, arguing that a giant guitar on Main Street didn't align with the town's historical roots. They also denied a request to install a statue of a guitar at Outlaw Square, saying it would clash with the city's branding.
Instead, Hard Rock was allowed to place a smaller guitar logo on the hotel's awning.
— ROCKSINO by Hard Rock (@RocksinoHR) August 3, 2023
A Smaller Guitar Sits Pretty
Instead, Hard Rock was allowed to place a smaller guitar logo on the hotel's awning.
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Source: www.casino.org
