Gila River Hotels & Casinos announced as official hotel and casino of the Arizona Cardinals
Kyle Knox
Gila River Indian News
A partnership 15 years in the making became official between the Gila River Hotels & Casinos and Arizona Cardinals.
Gila River Hotels & Casinos is now the official hotel and casino of the Arizona Cardinals. Two Arizona Cardinals suites are currently available at the Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Vee Quiva Hotel launching the new partnership for patrons of those hotels.
The Wild Horse Pass Hotel suite, officially unveiled, the morning of Thursday, Sept. 17 to Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis and Community Council Representatives Devin Redbird and Charles Goldtooth. Cardinals mascot Big Red was also in attendance for the momentous occasion.
After seeing the suite, Gov. Lewis said, “This has been a long time coming. Becoming the official hotel and casino partner of the Arizona Cardinals is something we’ve been building towards.”
Gov. Lewis further shared, “This partnership is a great step forward for us, and I know there will be a lot of great new opportunities in the future.” Dominic Orozco, Chief Marketing Officer for Gila River Hotels & Casinos, said that the Arizona Cardinals chose to design the layout and décor for both suites.
The suite sits on the tenth floor providing a scenic view of the Community’s land and surrounding areas. Fit for a true Cardinals fan the suite is adorned with a custom door, signed jersey of Larry Fitzgerald, and seat from an Arizona Cardinals board room.
A similar room can be found on the second floor at the Vee Quiva Hotel with minor differences between the two. For instance, Wild Horse Pass Hotels suite has carpeted floors while Vee Quiva Hotels suite has wood floors.
Partnerships between NFL franchises and tribal casino entities are rare. Gila River Hotel and Casinos joins a small cohort of partnerships throughout all of Indian Country.
Orozco also said the partnership now allows Gila River Hotels & Casinos to incorporate both logos at all three entities. Patrons will see Cardinals themed rooms, decorations, promos, and poker table felts adorned with the Cardinals logo going forward.
Because Gila River Hotels & Casinos is a sports-centered brand, they are considering the possibility of establishing similar partnerships with other sports teams they sponsor. Those teams include the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Coyotes, and Arizona State University.