- Details
- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Gaming
Wind Creek Hospitality, the tribal and commercial gaming enterprise Poarch Band of Creek Indians, has signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement to serve as the official casino of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls.
The Atmore, Ala.-based company is in the process of developing the new Wind Creek Chicago Southland casino and resort in the south suburbs of East Hazel Crest and Homewood after winning a bidding process last year for the new Illinois-sanctioned commercial gaming license.
With the partnership, Wind Creek will collaborate with the Bulls team for in-game fan promotions and other entertainment and ramp up activities once the new casino opens its doors.
“As a new brand coming to the Chicagoland market, we believed it was important to establish a name for ourselves and a level of credibility with the local market as quickly as possible,” Wind Creek Hospitality COO Brent Pinkston said in a statement. “Being a native of the region, I can’t imagine a better way to accomplish that task than to partner with the Bulls organization and introduce ourselves to one of the largest and most loyal fan bases in professional sports. It lets us enter the market with a huge voice.”
The company’s $440 million development plans include a 70,000-square-foot casino and a 252-room luxury hotel straddling the two communities of Homewood and East Hazel Crest. Wind Creek estimates the project, which broke ground in June, will create 800 full-time jobs at the casino resort, as well as 600 temporary jobs during construction.
Wind Creek anticipates opening the casino in 2023.
In the interim, Bulls fans will begin seeing Wind Creek signage at United Center effective immediately, with other in-person and television fan engagements rolling out in the coming weeks.
“We are excited to partner with Wind Creek over the next few seasons to bring fans new in-arena competitions, social content and sweepstakes,” Bulls Vice President of Business Development Mark Levitt said in a statement. “This new partnership will support our ongoing efforts to further elevate the gameday experience for Bulls fans at the United Center and across our social platforms.”
