New Player At The Table: Yaamava’ Stakes Its Claim

In Southern California, it’s impossible to be oblivious to Yaamava’ Resort & Casino.

The San Manuel Entertainment Authority (SMEA) – a Tribal Instrumentality – owns and operates Yaamava’ Resort and Casino at San Manuel. The property — 60 miles east of Los Angeles in San Bernardino County — has a muscular marketing plan.

Its billboards line freeways from Santa Monica to the desert. On the 15, they implore Vegas-bound drivers to instead pump the brakes in the Inland Empire. The casino sponsors promotions during Los Angeles Dodgers games. Its advertisements bolster the bottom lines of terrestrial radio stations.

It’s all born of a $760 million expansion of the resort in 2020, which culminated with a rebrand in 2021, moving from “San Manuel Casino” to “Yaamava’,” the Serrano word for “spring.”

Truly, a thousand blossoms bloomed, as the casino — which started as a bingo hall in the late 1980s — grew into a full-fledged, amenity-rich destination, including the 2,500-capacity Yaamava’ Theater. The marketing and entertainment teams knew if they wanted to solidify their resort as a destination and their theater as a credible venue in the competition-rich market of Los Angeles and its environs, they had to make a splash.

The theater was officially opened in April 2022 with a private gig by legendary L.A. rockers and bona fide stadium act Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Opening a new venue with a huge act is a fairly common strategy. Casino properties do it as do plenty of other non-gaming-adjacent rooms. But Yaamava’ didn’t want to stop.

“We wanted to make a big splash as soon as possible,” Jennifer Anthony, senior vice president of property marketing, said. “It can be difficult with a theater that’s not proven and to get acts to play in the Inland Empire, but the trajectory is going up and up since then.”

Drew Dixon, vice president of entertainment, said the Chili Peppers show is the foundation of the entertainment plan, not the culmination of it.

“We’ve kept pushing the ball forward,” he said. “Sometimes, when [casinos] open a building, they open with big artists and slow down.”

What’s that look like? Some of the biggest, most coveted acts.

“Missy Elliott was here,” Dixon said. “She was only doing four shows anywhere the entire year.”

Fellow hip-hop legend Ice Cube played Yaamava’. Kevin Hart has already played the theater twice.

“He loves the room and the place,” Dixon said. There’s plenty of reasons performers love the stop.

“It’s a unique environment for a 2,500 cap,” he said. “We treat them amazing. Catering is top-notch, production is top-notch. They can stay at a AAA five-diamond property. The hotel is amazing. Our steakhouse dominates in the market.”

Yaamava’ is intentional about the artist mix as well. They’ve hosted straight-ahead rock acts like the Chili Peppers and the Black Keys. They have legacy acts — Styx, Lionel Richie, Al Green, Alice Cooper — long associated with the casino market. There’s hip-hop legends — Wu-Tang Clan, De La Soul and Nas are making a stop in October — and country stars like Tim McGraw and Darius Rucker. There’s big-time Latin acts like Kali Uchis and Emmanuel. 

Want big names? The Killers are playing in September. Dave Matthews Band has a sold-out show Aug. 24.

“And what about Ed Sheeran?” Dixon asks during this litany.

Indeed, Ed Sheeran, who sold more tickets than anybody else on the planet in 2022 and ranked No. 5 in Pollstar’s mid-year charts, is swinging by Oct. 18. Tickets range from $400 to $5,000.

Yaamava’ may seem like a live-performance juggernaut — and it is — but don’t get it twisted. Yaamava’ Theater is on the grounds of Yammava’ Casino, not the other way around.

“The entertainment is a component, like everything we have to offer. Does it get attention and get people on property?” Anthony said. “Tickets are held for our best players and we are going to use Ed Sheeran to the best of our ability and we want to show we are much more than just another regional casino.”

While, yes, the ultimate motivation is to get people on-site to gamble, Dixon said the entertainment team at Yaamava’ isn’t going to phone it in, because he envisions the theater being treated as a top venue, not just a top casino venue.

“We want to be the number one entertainment destination in Southern California. We want to be a play they have to play in the market. Not just a traditional casino play but on the standard routing,” he said.

And that aspiration means selling the Inland Empire as a market, not just Yaamava’ as a venue. The IE — centered on Riverside and San Bernardino — is the U.S.’s 12th largest metro, but suffers from being a neighbor to the cultural colossus that is LA and is often treated as forgettable or dismissible. But there are lots of people … and lots of money.  

“We’ve had to overcome preconceived notions about the IE and about being just another casino. It was something that took a building of trust with management and agents. The tribe and team invested heavily and wanted to see success. I’m proud to live in the IE and bring the experience to the people who live out here,” Dixon says.