For a resort like Yaamava, it’s worth spending big on pop stars like Sheeran to stand out among the competition and attract new, younger audiences. Casinos don’t need to turn a profit on concerts - crowds will probably outspend the door price on gambling, restaurants and hotel stays.

Properties like Pechanga, Agua Caliente and Morongo have become comfortable, if sometimes un-glamorous, places for musicians to play just outside SoCal’s major cities. There are more than 80 tribal casinos in California that rake in an estimated $8 billion in annual revenue, largely from slot machines, of which Yaamava’ has more than 7,000, the most in SoCal. With stadium tours from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé breaking records and dominating pop culture, it seems there’s a bottomless appetite for spending big on live music. The $2-billion-plus Sphere in Las Vegas just opened with a residency from U2 and rapt crowds.

Despite fan complaints about high prices and fees, Live Nation’s most recent quarterly revenue soared 32% to $8.2 billion, with year-to-date revenue up 36% to $16.9 billion. Post-pandemic, the live music industry has roared back to life. It’s the closest tribal casino-resort to L.A., but on a Wednesday night, it wasn’t even at capacity for Sheeran’s gig. The theater, opened in 2022, still had a new-construction smell - great acoustics, perfect sightlines and a short elevator hop to the rooftop pool and spa. “My boyfriend found these tickets and he was like, ‘It’s a smaller venue.’ But this is way smaller.”įlores caught the “Shape of You” singer, who sold out the 81,000-capacity SoFi Stadium in Inglewood in September, in a room just a bit bigger than the Wiltern. She drove in from Roswell, N.M., to see Sheeran at Yaamava’, a resort run by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, in October. “I was going to see him when he played a stadium show in Las Vegas, but it got canceled,” said Flores, 31. She was about to watch one of her favorite singers, the British pop superstar Ed Sheeran, in a 3,000-capacity nightclub. On the floor of the Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in San Bernardino County, amid the clangs and howls of thousands of slot machines, Shelby Flores knew she’d just gotten extremely lucky.

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