FireKeepers Casino Hotel to Welcome Famed Tightrope Walker Nik Wallenda

Posted on: July 20, 2021, 01:26h. 

Last updated on: July 20, 2021, 02:46h.

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

FireKeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek, Mi., will welcome famed tightrope walker Nik Wallenda to the resort next month. 

FireKeepers casino entertainment Nik Wallenda
Daredevil Nik Wallenda is seen walking a tightrope across Niagara Falls in 2013. The famed stunt performer is arriving at FireKeepers Casino Hotel in Michigan next month for the grand opening of the resort’s expansion. (Image: Reuters)

Wallenda dubbed the “King of the High Wire,” is one of the most celebrated tightrope walkers in the world. He’s walked across Niagara Falls, a gorge at the Grand Canyon, and the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.

His next daredevil stunt will take place in Michigan on Aug. 16 at the tribal casino. It is owned and operated by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Indians. 

Wallenda, a seventh-generation tightrope walker, holds 11 Guinness World Records. One of his records was set in 2011 at the Tropicana Atlantic City when he performed in the “Wheel of Death” atop the Boardwalk casino property’s 23rd floor. The wheel was a large rotating apparatus in which Wallenda executed a variety of daredevil stunts both inside and outside of the eight-foot wheel. 

Expansion Celebration

FireKeepers explains in a release that Wallenda’s performance, which is free and spectators are encouraged to attend, is to celebrate the opening of the casino’s expansion. The ceremonies will begin at 5 pm local time on August 16, with Wallenda’s walk set to begin around 5:45. 

The expansion involves a second hotel tower. The first eight-story hotel opened in 2012 with 243 guestrooms. The second tower, also eight stories tall, features 203 guestrooms. The second tower expansion comes with a 39,000-square-foot lobby bar, and front desk, a new home of the casino’s signature restaurant Nibi, and a high-limit gaming area with slots and table games. 

Wallenda will walk via tightrope between the two hotel towers. 

Initially slated to open in December of 2020, the FireKeepers hotel expansion was delayed because of the pandemic. Setbacks were caused by supply chain issues, as well as construction worker shortages. 

The current 107,000-square-foot casino floor features more than 2,900 slot machines, 70 table games, a 26-table poker room, bingo and keno venue, and a sportsbook. All spaces inside the resort are smoke-free, including hotel guestrooms. 

FireKeepers Casino additionally operates iGaming and online sports betting. The tribe’s internet operations went live only last month. FireKeepers utilized Scientific Games’ third-party turnkey iGaming and sportsbook products to offer guests online casino games and sports betting. By teaming with Scientific, FireKeepers’ online presence uses the same brand and identify that land-based guests recognize.

Entertainment Lineup

FireKeepers is located some 25 miles east of Kalamazoo, 70 miles west of Ann Arbor, and 100 miles west of Detroit. The tribal casino is planning to lure visitors to the resort by way of A-list entertainment.

The resort’s event center, which sits more than 2,000 guests, has a robust schedule of celebrity acts coming to Battle Creek.

Country music star Jake Owen is scheduled for Aug. 21, comedian Larry the Cable Guy Sept. 4, and television medium Tyler Henry on Nov. 18.