Roughly 15 minutes before the popular Mexican restaurant Pancho & Willie’s opened inside the Western Village Casino in Sparks, customers were milling about, ready to stake their claim to a table.

Though the location in the middle of the casino, located off a main highway, might not seem like the obvious destination for a Friday afternoon, don’t even think about trying to cut the line.

Steven Ascuaga, corporate director of business development for Western Village, which is owned by Peppermill Casinos, said the restaurant’s appeal extends back to the 1980s. He said its popularity is similar to the casino’s other outlets, including its steakhouse.

“That’s the Sparks market,” said Ascuaga, who grew up as part of the Sparks gaming world through his family’s decades-long ownership of the Nugget Casino Resort. “We’re local. We know our customers and they know us, whether it’s the pay tables on video poker or the value in our restaurants. It’s the fundamentals, the basics of the industry.”

Western Village is the one constant in the small Sparks gaming community that has seen two casino ownership changes and the opening of a new property during the last two years. But it’s not alone. 

The small Northern Nevada city has four main casinos that are adapting to the region’s growing market — one of which is the Western Village, known as the area’s market leader, another that has changed hands three times in the last decade, a third beloved by local community members and the relatively new kid on the block built in 2022.

All have something to offer in what the Gaming Control Board describes as one of the smallest reporting regions in the state when it comes to casino revenue. 

In the last few decades, the city’s population has more than doubled. That fact was enough for Century Casinos, an expanding Colorado-based gaming operator, to purchase the Nugget, Sparks’ only casino resort, for $195 million.

“Sparks is a great market, particularly when you think of the locals segment,” said Ferenc Szony, whose privately held Truckee Gaming acquired the small Rail City Casino last year from Affinity Gaming, more than a decade after he sold the property to the company when it was known as Herbst Gaming.

“We saw a property that was maybe neglected or just wasn't part of the core asset group for Affinity,” said Szony, whose Reno-based company operates Gold Ranch Casino & RV Resort in Verdi and four other northern Nevada casinos.

“I think [Affinity] took their eye off the ball,” he added. “You look at Sparks gaming numbers and there has been great growth in the market over the last 10 years.”

That’s underscored by Sparks’ record gaming revenue in recent years.

Reports from the control board show Sparks casinos produced a single-year gaming record of $182.6 million in 2023, snapping a 16-year-old record of $173.5 million set in 2007. Sparks accounted for just 1.2 percent of the state’s overall gaming revenue record total of $15.5 billion in 2023, but it was one of eight reporting markets to set a highest-ever single-year revenue total.

Sparks Assistant City Manager John Martini said the city “hasn’t had many discussions” with the new casino operators, including the ownership of the Nugget, which has changed three times since 2013. The city worked with Marnell Gaming, the previous owner before Century, which built a 9,000-seat outdoor events center for concerts and other entertainment across Victorian Avenue.

“We had a good working relationship with Marnell,” Martini said. “We usually hear from [the casino buyers] after the transactions close where we hear ideas about rehabbing or refurbishing. In my 25 years, our best relationship was certainly with the Ascuagas.”

John Ascuaga, who died in June 2021 at age 96, was a Northern Nevada gaming pioneer who developed the Nugget.

Nugget changes hands — again

Gaming analysts place most of their Northern Nevada attention on Reno, where Caesars Entertainment operates The Row (Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus) and Monarch Resorts operates Atlantis. Caesars also operates Harvey’s and Harrah’s in South Lake Tahoe.

Reno’s gaming revenue of $738.3 million in 2023 was more than four times Sparks’ total, which also trailed the $243.8 million from South Tahoe.

But the sale of the 1,382-room Nugget to Century was the first by a public company and put Sparks on the map of the casino investment community. 

When Century first announced the Nugget acquisition in 2022, JMP Securities gaming analyst Jordan Bender said the property offered recent improvements and a large convention facility that would increase its presence. The sale closed a year later.

But Century, which operates casinos in Colorado, Missouri, West Virginia, Maryland and Canada, has had a rough start with the property considered to be its flagship resort.

In August, Century acknowledged a 23 percent revenue decline in the second quarter due to operational challenges and renovations to the Nugget.

Co-CEO Erwin Haitzmann said the company is learning about Northern Nevada’s “highly competitive market,” which includes “very experienced operators.” 

To stay ahead, the company has focused on renovations and modernizing the resort, which includes upgrading restaurants and the casino floor, adding 120 slot machines and establishing a high-limit room.

Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon noted in August that he expects the Nugget will see increases in cash flow during the next few quarters thanks to the upgrades and renovations.

One element that won’t change at the Nugget, however, is John’s Oyster Bar. New general manager Eric Rose, who has been on the job for less than a month, said the eatery has a historical significance within the Sparks community and is known as the place where you would always find John Ascuaga.

Before managing the Nugget, Rose was Century’s regional vice president, starting his 32-year gaming career in Stateline, Nevada. He said his move to Sparks signified the company’s commitment to the resort and the community.

Even with ongoing renovations, Rose said more than 400,000 people — visitors and Northern Nevada residents — came through the property during Northern Nevada’s annual Rib Cook-off in early September.

“We can get both [locals and visitors],” Rose said. “We’re working hard on our marketing database and adding more promotions so we can touch both audiences because they are equally important.”

The market leader

Olympia Gaming, which owns and operates Legends Bay, was hit with a cyber-attack in June. Michael Lawton, the control board’s chief economic analyst, said Sparks’ small casino market was adversely affected by the disruption.

Through July, Sparks gaming revenue is down more than 5 percent compared to 2023 with double-digit declines of 12 percent in June and 11 percent in July. 

When Legends Bay opened in late August 2022, it skewed the Sparks gaming totals upward for the next 12 months, fueling increases of 3 percent in 2022 and 6 percent last year. Compared to 2019 — the year before the pandemic — Sparks’ 2023 casino revenue was up almost 32 percent.

Through all the changes, operators said Western Village is the city’s market leader.

It helps that the casino is owned by the Peppermill, which includes the main property in Reno, three casinos in Wendover and its famous restaurant and lounge on the Las Vegas Strip.

Steven Ascuaga, who joined the company after his family’s ownership in the Nugget ended, said Reno customers often redeem their player rewards points from the other Peppermill-owned resorts at Western Village because of its restaurants or for a change of pace.

The casino has 800 slot machines including a spot where table games used to sit. Western Village didn’t bring back its table games after the pandemic and Ascuaga said player data showed slot machines and video poker had more demand. He said Reno’s Peppermill is refreshing and investing in its slot offerings to cater to this demand.

“Western Village has been a beneficiary of Sparks’ population increase,” Ascuaga said. “Many people cashed out of their homes in California and live large in Sparks.”

An old friend

For the last 46 years, Rail City has held firm to its location on Victorian Avenue near Rock Boulevard. Szony, a longtime Northern Nevada operator, said he’s taking his time on potential improvements to the property, which doesn’t have lodging and is currently operating just one restaurant.

After taking over the operation last fall, Szony’s team removed an area that had non-gaming entertainment and added back 250 slot machines, giving customers more than 625 games. He is also in the process of upgrading much of the slot floor, implementing a player’s card that connects with all of Truckee Gaming’s locations.

The biggest challenge is food offerings. A fully functioning restaurant area at the center of the property is closed off and only used for special events. 

“Food is something that we're working on because that’s important to the locals,” he said. 

He also wants Rail City’s customers to know that local ownership is back after it was owned for 10 years by a Vegas-based company. Outside the casino entrance along Victorian Avenue is an advertising billboard with Szony’s photo and the words “Under New Management” — although “New” is Xed out and replaced with the word “Old.” 

The new kid in town

Legend’s Bay celebrated its second anniversary in August and Szony said the casino, which has 660 slot machines, 10 table games and a sportsbook operated by Las Vegas-based Circa Sports, seems to have a niche.

“The Sparks market has grown more than enough to have another seat at the table,” Szony said. “I think they built a nice product in a good location.”

Las Vegas developer Gary Goett spent $120 million to open Legends Bay on the east end of the Sparks Marina, the first all-new, from-the-ground-up casino development in the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area in more than two decades. Two non-gaming hotels — Hampton Inn and Residence Inn, each with more than 100 rooms — were built near the casino.

“We recognize that the locals market for us can go as far as Fernley and Carson City,” said Legends Bay General Manager Ryan Walker. “We recognize that people are driving a significant distance to get here so we'll utilize the hotel option.”

During a walking tour of the casino, Walker pointed toward several changes underway, including reducing the food truck hall to one option with a more eclectic menu. He said decisions are being made about remodeling the area. The adjacent oyster bar restaurant was expanded and Duke’s Steak House remains a popular option, he said.

Walker also noted the 2-year-old casino was built with the ability to house some of the newer slot machine themes and products that have design elements that wouldn’t fit in older casinos.

Legends Bay had been under consideration for more than a decade. Walker said the casino opened at the perfect time, given the expanding housing market and the draw of the marina area. Martini said the marina master-planned development is almost complete.

“There are only two lots left, north of Legends,” Martini said.