WinStar World Casino Resort Partners With Lucas Oil for Expansion

Posted on: February 24, 2023, 10:33h. 

Last updated on: August 31, 2023, 01:16h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

WinStar World Casino Resort in Thackerville, Okla., is already one of the world’s largest casinos. It’s about to get bigger.

WinStar World Casino Resort Oklahoma Lucas Oil
An artist’s rendering of the forthcoming Lucas Oil Live concert and events facility at WinStar World Casino Resort. The concert space is replacing what was formerly the Global Event Center. (Image: WinStar World Casino Resort)

Spread across numerous casinos, each with a distinct theme, WinStar offers nearly 10,500 slot machines and electronic gaming positions, plus more than 100 table games. The massive property additionally features about 2,000 hotel rooms, 19 restaurants and bars, retail shopping, a resort pool, and an 18-hole championship golf course.

WinStar, owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation, is readying to open its newest amenity — a new live concert space that will be able to accommodate more than 6,500 audience members. The Chickasaws revealed this week that they’re partnering with Indianapolis-based Lucas Oil, a manufacturer of automotive lubricants and additives, for its new concert facility.

Lucas Oil has secured the naming rights to the 6,500-seat venue that will be called Lucas Oil Live.

“The Lucas Oil Live venue enhances the resort experience for our patrons and music fans alike as we welcome back live entertainment,” said WinStar General Manager Jack Parkinson.

Our guests will be able to enjoy an electric atmosphere in a venue that’s almost twice the capacity of our previous venue and offers added amenities that enhance the live entertainment experience. The sound and technical capabilities of this new venue enable us to continue attracting the industry’s most popular entertainers,” Parkinson added.

WinStar put live concerts, conventions, and other indoor happenings on hold amid the pandemic. Those events were typically held in the casino’s Global Event Center.

WinStar closed the 250,000-square-foot Global Event Center during the pandemic and later replaced it with a nonsmoking gaming floor linked to the Rome Gaming Plaza. The events center will now transition back to its original use with Lucas Oil Live.

Customizable Concert Space

Lucas Oil Live’s amphitheater-style arrangement will feature an array of seating options, from VIP to general admission. Suites and club-level offerings are also in the plans.

The goal, tribal officials said, is to create a home “that will serve as host to some of the nation’s best live music and events.” The venue will also feature a “flexible VIP lounge” that can be reconfigured and sized to accommodate midweek meetings and business gatherings.

WinStar hopes to open Lucas Oil Live this fall.

Spa Tower Opens

Along with the Lucas Oil Live news, WinStar recently opened its newest hotel tower. Called the Spa Tower, the lodging offering is billed as a “luxury retreat.”

The WinStar Spa Tower’s amenities are highlighted by a “two-story spa experience” that comes with luxury services in a serene atmosphere. The 304-room facility opened last month.

The casino said the Spa Tower and Lucas Oil Live projects are part of the property’s enhancement and expansion initiative. Casino reps said WinStar’s hotel rooms are occupied nearly all of the time throughout the year, with Texans accounting for about 90% of the overall business.

WinStar is located just north of the Texas-Oklahoma border, about 70 air miles from downtown Dallas and Fort Worth. Oklahoma and Texas both prohibit commercial gaming. But the Sooner State allows its federally recognized tribes to operate Class III casinos.

WinStar is one of the richest casinos in the US in terms of annual gaming income. The Chickasaws generated more than $2 billion in gross gaming revenue last year from the casinos. Along with WinStar, the tribe has 22 other casinos and gaming facilities in Oklahoma.