SACRAMENTO —  Red Rock Resorts is aiming to strike gold again in Northern California.

Along with Boyd Gaming and Caesars Entertainment, the company is helping develop and operate casino-resorts in tandem with area tribes seeking their piece of the nation’s largest Indian gaming state.

Red Rock, which operated Thunder Valley Casino near Sacramento from 2003 to 2010 and the Graton Resort & Casino in Santa Rosa from 2013 to 2021, is back in the game. The company began construction last year on a tribal casino in Madera, 30 miles north of Fresno and 140 miles south of Sacramento. 

Boyd operates a casino in the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, while Caesars has one tribal casino in rural Ione and is developing a second property.

The current wave of Northern California tribal casino expansion begs the question: Will California tribal gaming further siphon business from Northern Nevada’s two largest gaming markets, Reno and Lake Tahoe? 

It’s not a new concern, as Northern Nevada was hit hard after California tribal casinos emerged at the turn of the century. Since 2000, Reno’s annual gaming revenue has declined by almost 12 percent to $758.9 million in 2024. South Tahoe has seen a 30 percent drop in the last 24 years — $244 million last year.  

Two gaming industry veterans with long ties to Northern Nevada said Reno’s move away from gaming should insure it against pressure from the California market.

“I don’t think the steady stream of recent and upcoming casino openings in the California market will have much of an impact on Reno resorts,” said Buddy Frank, a former television journalist and casino industry slot machine manager and consultant. “The real damage was done years ago with Thunder Valley and Cache Creek [45 miles west of Sacramento] cutting off the lucrative Bay Area markets.”

Longtime Reno gaming analyst and CDC Gaming Reports columnist Ken Adams said tribal casino competition slowed investment and expansion into Reno casinos. 

“There isn’t any place in Reno for real investment in casinos, because there’s no return,” Adams said, adding that the successful efforts to diversify the region’s economy sent Reno in another direction.

“It’s been moving that way for 10 years,” Adams said. “Reno is just a changed community. Gaming is still part of it, but not as large as it used to be.”

Frank and Adams added that large tribal casino operations in Oregon and Washington have also taken business from Reno.

Longtime gaming analyst Carlo Santarelli, now senior vice president of corporate strategy for real estate investment trust Gaming and Leisure Partners, predicted that the Reno-Tahoe market will remain stable despite the growth in tribal casinos.

“[Reno-Tahoe] has a healthy set of unique drivers,” said Santarelli, whose company owns the real estate associated with Baldini’s Sports Casino in Sparks. “I don’t see these Northern California developments having a profound impact on the Northern Nevada markets.”

Another California gold rush

The National Indian Gaming Association divides the 29 tribal casino states into eight regions. The Sacramento region, which includes all of California and several smaller tribal casinos in Northern Nevada, produced $12.1 billion in gaming revenue in fiscal year 2024 — 27.5 percent of the nationwide $43.9 billion in tribal gaming revenue for the 2024 fiscal year. 

Other than 2020, when the pandemic forced the closure of casinos nationwide, the tribal casino industry has never experienced an annual decline.

According to the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, tribes are required to use gaming revenue to fund tribal government operations, general tribal welfare, economic development, charitable contributions and other programs. Many U.S. tribes have used gaming funds for health care, educational programs and job creation. Enrolled tribal members receive payouts either quarterly or annually out of the revenue.

Glenda Nelson, chairwoman of the 1,000-member Estom Yumeka Maidu Enterprise Rancheria tribe north of Sacramento, said they hoped to entice another California tribe into partnering on a long-planned casino project.

But after being shunned by other Northern California tribes, a meeting with the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida’s Hard Rock Entertainment led to an agreement to have Hard Rock manage the hotel-casino and attach its name to the $440 million project, which opened in 2019. 

“We found out that we had similar goals and objectives, and it’s been a great relationship,” Nelson said. “Hard Rock supports our effort to provide jobs and opportunity, not only for our members, but for residents of Yuba County.”

The California-based partnership is also backing a $1 billion development project spanning 350 acres between the resort and the neighboring 18,500-seat Toyota Amphitheater, and the property has space to add hundreds of rooms, additional meeting space and a casino expansion.

Mark Birtha, who has been president of Hard Rock Sacramento since its opening and is overseeing the expansion, said expansion plans depend on the “growth of the market,” but that building business in California will only help the company when it opens the Hard Rock Las Vegas in 2027 on the Strip.

“Knowing what Hard Rock builds and what we offer as a hospitality company allows us to leverage the database,” Birtha said. “Our guests are already asking about Las Vegas. Many of them went when the property was The Mirage.”

The Sky River Casino in Elk Grove is already planning its expansion. The property, which opened in August 2022 and is operated by Boyd Gaming, is owned by the Wilton Rancheria Tribe.

General Manager Michael Facenda said most tribal gaming properties take a similar approach to a Las Vegas locals’ casino and attract a loyal customer base. 

“We know our customers are looking for the Vegas experience and we feel like we’re offering that right now,” said Facenda, who has managed tribal casinos in Michigan and Southern California. “Our customers are looking for the easiest way to access fun.”

In anticipation of more regional competition, Sky River is working on a phased expansion to add a 1,600-space parking garage, followed by a 300-room hotel, 30,000 square feet of meeting space and increasing the size of the casino floor.

“Wilton Rancheria has given us a beautiful product to work with in a great location,” Facenda said.

Boyd Gaming earns a quarterly management fee from the tribal casino that is based on revenue. According to quarterly filings, Boyd earned $48.9 million in the first six months of 2025. 

CEO Keith Smith said the partnership with the tribe has worked well. Boyd designed the original property and expansion, while Wilton Rancheria funded the costs. 

“They approved it and they’re funding it,” Smith said. “The tribe hired us because we brought in our experts and our expertise. We know how to do these things.”

Caesars buys into the game

Caesars has three casinos in Reno — Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus — and owns two of the four South Tahoe resorts — Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Caesars Republic (the rebranded Harvey’s Lake Tahoe). 

But the company is adding a second Northern California casino to its tribal portfolio. The company has an agreement with the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians to transform the River Rock Casino into Caesars Republic Sonoma County. The property near Healdsburg will get a new casino with 1,000 slot machines in 28 table games, a 100-room hotel, four restaurants and other amenities.

The company also opened Harrah’s Northern California in Ione in April 2019. The property is a one-hour drive south of Sacramento and is owned by the Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians. 

Caesars spokesperson Kate Whiteley said the company currently doesn’t have plans to add a hotel at the 25,000-square-foot casino, which has three restaurants and a nightclub.

In an email, Whiteley wrote that Caesars is committed to its Reno and Tahoe resorts. 

“Northern Nevada is where the Caesars Entertainment empire began,” Whiteley wrote, describing where the company’s founder, Bill Harrah, got his start. “We’ve opened new restaurants and renovated rooms in Reno. We think the future is bright in both Northern California and Northern Nevada.”

Caesars has also operated Harrah’s Resort Southern California near San Diego since 2001,  Harrah’s Ak-Chin near Phoenix for more than 30 years, and two tribal casinos in North Carolina since 1996. 

Truist Securities gaming analyst Barry Jonas said Caesars’ tribal management agreements “are small” but contribute to its revenue stream.  

“It’s clear that tribes benefit from the Caesars brand and its [player] database,” Jonas said in an email. “Caesars gets high-margin fees and expands its model to drive players to its destination properties in Las Vegas.”

New players join the table

The casino industry’s two major real estate investment trusts have also discovered California’s tribal market.

In April, VICI Properties agreed to loan $510 million to the North Fork Mono Rancheria Tribe to underwrite the construction of a hotel-casino project. It is the first venture with a tribe for the company, which controls 660 acres on the Strip covering 10 resorts and convention complexes.

Red Rock is developing the casino and will operate the property under a management agreement. 

“The involvement of a proven operating partner, proven across the gaming landscape broadly, but specifically in tribal gaming and specifically in California, gives us a lot of comfort,” VICI CEO Ed Pitoniak said on an April conference call.

Gaming and Leisure, which is the landlord for M Resort, two Jackpot casinos and the future Las Vegas home of the Athletics, has two Northern California tribal deals in place.

The company in October 2024 announced it would provide a $110 million construction loan to the Ione Band of Miwok Indians to fund a 60,000-square-foot casino in Amador County, 40 miles southeast of Sacramento. 

The casino will be managed by Las Vegas-based Warner Gaming, which operates tribal casinos in Washington and New Mexico and was founded in 2008 by former Station Casinos executive Bill Warner. The company managed the former Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for nine years before it transitioned into Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

Gaming and Leisure is also providing $225 million to serve as the lead real estate financing partner and become the landlord on the Dry Creek Rancheria project. Gaming and Leisure is Caesars’ landlord for six casinos nationwide, including the Tropicana Laughlin.

“In both cases, we liked the prospects for the developments, given the respective regional demographics and the operators,” said Gaming and Leisure’s Santarelli. “These types of partnerships meaningfully expand our reach. These two opportunities are great ways to showcase our willingness to collaborate with tribal operators.”