Cherokee Nation Wins Contested License for Arkansas Casino

A rendering of the proposed Legends casino-resort in Arkansas. The Cherokee Nation won the hotly contested license to get the green light for their Pope County project. (Image: courtesy of Legends Resort & Casino)

The Arkansas Racing Commission (ARC) voted unanimously to issue the Pope County casino license to Cherokee Nation Entertainment (CNE) on Thursday, awarding it to the only valid proposal that came before the committee.

The seven commissioners scored the CNE plan on casino gaming experience, timeline, financial stability, and the summary of its proposal, awarding it 651 points out of a possible 700.

Gulfside Application Rejected, Legends Resort Approved

Gulfside Casino Partnership also presented an application to the commission. However, the ARC rejected that bid, as Gulfside failed to secure a required letter of support from local government officials. That left CNE as the only applicant standing, and while it made Thursday’s meeting anticlimactic, it was still a welcome outcome for CNE officials. 

“It’s an honor to have been issued the Pope County casino gaming license by the Arkansas Racing Commission,” Cherokee Nation Entertainment CEO Chuck Garrett said in a statement. “Holding the state’s fourth and final license is a responsibility we take very seriously, and we are excited for Legends Resort & Casino Arkansas to become a reality.”

The Legends Resort & Casino Arkansas as proposed will be located in Russellville on 235 acres north of Interstate 40. 

The $300 million project calls for a 200-room hotel tower with a pool and a spa. The gaming floor will be 50,000 square feet – enough room for 1,200 slot machines, 32 table games and a sportsbook. The space will also feature multiple restaurants, an upscale steakhouse, a 1,000-person conference center, an RV and dog park, a 5,000-person outdoor concert venue, and a family-friendly water park. 

Arkansas voters first approved casino gambling via Amendment 100 to the state constitution in 2018, which authorized two casino licenses at the time, one of which was for a facility in Pope County. 

In 2020, the ARC awarded the Pope County license to Gulfside. However, Gulfside had applied for the license with a letter of endorsement from a former Pope County Judge, not a current official. After a court battle, that license was nullified, and the commission instead awarded its license to a partnership between Cherokee Nation Businesses and Legends Resort Casino in 2021.

Another court battle followed. In October 2023, the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down the decision, noting that the state constitution only allows a single entity to hold a casino license, not a partnership of businesses.

Ballot Initiative Could Challenge Casino in November

That led to the current round of applications, which opened on May 12. While CNE was able to get the backing of Pope County Judge Ben Cross, who praised CNE’s track record in the gaming industry, Gulfside was unable to get a similar resolution from the Pope County Quorum Court. That effectively ended Gulfside’s ability to contest the license.

While the long process proved contentious, ARC Chairman Alex Lieblong said that ultimately, he feels everyone involved did their jobs.

“Everyone meant well in Pope County, and I think they conducted themselves very, very well and we appreciate that,” Lieblong said, via the Magnolia Reporter. “I don’t fault anybody on this commission that politics one way or another for Amendment 100. We were just bystanders. We appreciate your patience with us.”

This doesn’t mean the casino is a done deal just yet. A group known as Local Voters in Charge is working to collect enough signatures to place an initiative on the ballot on November 5. The ballot question would look to repeal authorization for the Pope County casino, and require that any future casino locations in the state are approved by local voters in a referendum. The committee has until July 5 to collect at least 90,704 signatures from registered voters.

Cherokee Nation Entertainment owns nine tribal casinos in Oklahoma, along with the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa and the Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica, Mississippi. The company generates around $1 billion gross revenue annually. 

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