- Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino in Primm, Nevada has announced that they’re reopened follow ‘a multimillion dollar renovation’.
- The other two properties in Primm–the Primm Valley Casino Resort & Whiskey Pete’s have been open for some time.
- All three Primm properties closed with the rest of Nevada’s gaming industry at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Did you think that all of Nevada’s casinos that closed during the COVID-19 pandemic had reopened or thrown in the towel? I sure did. That’s why today’s press release announcing the reopening of Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino in Primm, Nevada was something of a surprise. Not only has the property reopened, but the press release indicated that it has experienced a ‘multimillion dollar renovation’. This includes the hotel rooms, casino and food & beverage. ‘Buffalo Bill’s Star of the Desert Arena’ has also been upgraded.
Here are the specifics from the press release:
Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino, a portfolio company of Affinity Interactive (“AI”), has reopened following a multimillion-dollar renovation.
Redesigned hotel rooms, a refreshed casino floor with a new “Tree Bar” featuring 85″ TVs, and additional slot machines with the latest game themes and progressives are among the renovations designed to provide guests with an upgraded and enhanced experience.
The reopened Resort and Casino includes a new lineup of restaurants, offering various dining options. The preeminent dining outlet, BB Chophouse, will showcase a live-action kitchen in the center of the room, where guests can watch chefs prepare the finest steaks, chops, and seafood while feeling as though they are immersed in the Tuscan countryside.Buffalo Bill’s Star of the Desert Arena has also undergone renovations, including the addition of a half-million-dollar video wall that provides attendees with an immersive concert experience. The 2023 concert lineup will include multiple monthly concerts, offering a range of genres.
Affinity Interactive owns land based gaming properties in Nevada, Missouri and Iowa, all operated through their Affinity Gaming subsidiary. They also own the Daily Racing Form as well as their eponymously branded race and sportsbook, DRFBets. We last heard from Affinity when they opened a DRF Sportsbook retail location at the Lakeside Hotel & Casino in Osceola, Iowa. They’ve also launched a mobile sports betting app in the state. In Nevada, Affinity owns the three Primm casino/resorts along with the Silver Sevens Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and the Rail City Casino up north in Sparks.
Jerry West, Vice President and General Manager of Primm Valley Casino Resorts, is obviously stoked about the reopening of his property:
“We’ve been eagerly anticipating the reopening of Buffalo Bill’s for quite some time. We’re excited to show guests the many upgrades we’ve made, and we are confident they will undoubtedly walk away with a new impression of this property.”
One very significant though unmentioned reason for reopening the Buffalo Bill’s property–a rebound in drive up traffic from Southern California along I-15. After sixth months of stagnant numbers average daily traffic at the California/Nevada border was up 6% in October 2022 and 9% over November 2022 (compared to the same period in 2021). For all of 2022 (with December 2022 data still pending), traffic from SoCal is down -5.5% for the year though it has completely rebounded from the pandemic up 1.7% from 2019. Gaming revenues have been strong in Nevada (as has been the average daily room rate and revPAR) but the statistics that measure visitor count still have a long way back in most cases.
