Not even the most optimistic Niagara Falls booster harbors any hope of the city ever hosting a major-league sports franchise.
But that doesn't mean the former Honeymoon Capital of the World can't become a big-time sporting destination.
City officials, private developers and Seneca Gaming Corp. honchos controlling the short- and long-term future of downtown Niagara Falls promise to bring life to an area devastated by Urban Renewal and subsequent decades of neglect and parochialism. If they're serious, they can start by looking at another unlikely spot that's becoming a mecca for tourists -- whether or not they plan to spend the majority of their stay at the slot machines.
That spot is Lemoore, Calif., previously best known as a sleepy town south of glamorous Fresno.
And they can turn to a Niagara Falls native to learn about The Palace Indian Gaming Center's journey from bingo hall to Las Vegas-style resort.
"Gaming is obviously the business we're in, but we're becoming a true resort destination," said Christian Printup, a 1991 graduate of LaSalle High School and The Palace's director of sports and entertainment. "If you want to brand your property as world-class, you have to have world-class food, world-class hotel rooms and world-class entertainment."
As undeniably successful as Seneca Niagara has been in terms of dollars taken in, the facility remains one-for-three on that scale, owing the one to its hugely popular buffet. With plans for a $250 million expansion and addition to the existing site slowed by the politics and legal wrangling that have snuffed previous attempts to reinvent downtown, Seneca Gaming officials have extra time to look at what's going on in Lemoore, as well as other casinos located in once-ignored regions like Biloxi, Miss., and Verona, N.Y.
Just about every casino that's ever opened in the United States -- be it run by Native Americans, private business or the government -- has made money. Drawing enthusiastic gamblers is a pretty simple enterprise -- find a big building, set up some slot machines and gaming tables and open the doors.
Attracting casual gamblers and those who don't know poker from blackjack involves quite a bit more. And as casinos across the country took that step, professional boxing and live entertainment represented the common denominator.
Printup went to work for The Palace just as leaders of the Tachi-Yokut tribe that runs it came to that realization.
The tribe opened a bingo hall in the mid-1980s. By mid-2000, a Vegas-style casino was ready.
For Printup, who grew up in the LaSalle area with his mother, Joanne, and still has family in Niagara Falls and on the Tuscarora Reservation, his arrival was a classic case of being in the right place at the right time.
After graduating from LaSalle, where he played basketball with Explorers stars like Modie Cox and Carlos Bradberry, Printup attended Niagara County Community College before joining the Air Force in 1994.
Printup spent much of his time in the service as a meteorologist, shut in an office surrounded by radar screens and computers.
"When I was in the Air Force, it was all dark all the time I was working," Printup said. "I really wanted to get out of it."
After leaving the military, he parlayed his experience into a job working for the National Weather Service in Denver. At the same time, he tried to trade on his background working at the old Pleasuredome in Niagara Falls.
"I started working angles to break into promoting nightclubs and different ventures that didn't really go anywhere," he said.
He got his break when his stepfather, a member of the Tachi-Yokut tribe, told him about the casino under construction in Lemoore.
"I threw in a resume, told them I had a background in nightclub stuff and promotion," Printup said. "They brought me out and I went through a series of interviews and they asked me if I'd be interested in developing the sports and entertainment department."
Printup started working for the Tachi-Yokuts in July, 2000. A month later, The Palace opened.
A Hispanic music festival in September, 2000, drew nearly 7,000 people to the casino, triggering The Palace's first million-dollar day. But such events impact more than the short-term bottom line.
"It's no secret that entertainment is used to reward existing players, attract new players, increase the frequency of visits and increase the casino drop on a 'same day last year' system, meaning that your goal going into each and every day is to make more money than you did on the same day last year," Printup said.
Boxing is particularly helpful in that regard, since the sport's fans tend to be both high rollers and willing to travel to see fights in person.
"A casino is, to me, in my sport, what Ralph Wilson Stadium is to the Buffalo Bills," said Joe Mesi, whose climb in the heavyweight ranks has triggered the sport's revival in Western New York, before his sixth-round knockout of Keith McKnight last year.
Staging concerts in a 4,000-seat outdoor amphitheater and bimonthly boxing cards in an 1,800-seat temporary facility, Printup helped The Palace draw regional and, eventually, international attention with fight nights televised on ESPN2, Fox Sports Network and Univision. Printup and The Palace also co-promoted Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s April defense of his World Boxing Council lightweight title against Victoriano Sosa, a card that drew 7,000 fans to Selland Arena, many of whom hit the casino after the main event.
"Boxing has afforded us world-wide television exposure," he said. "Our logo and our brand have been viewed in more than 80 countries."
That exposure has been particularly crucial to The Palace, located between two highways running between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
"My thought was to get our brand out there across the state and country," Printup said. "By incorporating strategic billboard placement, the increased brand awareness we experience from our television exposure will help to get people to take a break from driving and come check us out."
So far, so good. The tribe recently approved a $225 million expansion plan to double the space of the gambling floor and build a 500-room hotel, as well as a 6,500-seat arena.
"It will have luxury suites and all the other bells and whistles of a mid-sized, state-of-the-art arena," Printup said.
In its current venue, The Palace has presented musical acts including Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Dwight Yoakam and a soul festival, as well as a series of regionally popular Mexican performers.
Once the new arena opens, Printup said he expects to draw bigger names, such as Aerosmith and Elton John, while keeping ticket prices affordable.
"The single biggest advantage that Native American venues have over others in California is that promoters don't have to pay gate taxes," Printup said.
"Jerry Seinfeld recently played two sold-out shows in Fresno. Knowing approximately what his gross was, I estimate he paid $21,000 in taxes that night. If those shows were in our arena, he would have had an extra $21,000 at the end of the day. To me, artists will see that as a huge advantage and play our arena, as opposed to city-run buildings."
A similar-sized arena on or near the Seneca Niagara Casino would have another advantage -- there's no active mid-sized indoor venue for concerts, boxing or anything else in Western New York. The last one -- the Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center -- is now home to Seneca Niagara.
Printup said he focuses on maximizing the overall effect of each event, rather than just the profit margin.
"I don't price anyone out," Printup said. "Our concert series tickets are $15 to $35. For example, by choosing general admission tickets, someone could see Little Anthony and the Imperials, Carrot Top, Smokey Robinson, Paul Rodriguez and Chicago for $90, total. That's a pretty good value."
Such a pricing scale enables The Palace to attract local residents and tourists who wouldn't come near Lemoore if gambling was the lone attraction.
"The shows I promote are also a gesture to the community," Printup said. "I want people here in Central California to be able to spend a night out with their family or friends and enjoy world-class entertainment at friendly prices."
When he's not consumed by his duties at The Palace, Printup -- who lives in Lemoore with his wife, Melissa, and their four children -- promotes his own boxing shows elsewhere in the state and in more traditional boxing destinations like Reno and Las Vegas.
This year, he also broke into television, doing color commentary on several locally televised cards at The Palace. Printup has also signed on to start broadcasting boxing from other venues for the Fox Sports World network.
And starting in September, he'll be hosting a fantasy football segment on the San Francisco 49ers weekly highlights show, which airs on Fox Sports Network throughout California, Oregon and Nevada and on satellite throughout the rest of the country.
"I have no problem speaking to the public," Printup said of his nascent television career. "I'm looking forward to doing the 49ers show -- I'm busting my butt to get in shape so I don't look like a fat slob on the air."
As busy as he is, Printup hasn't forgotten his hometown, where his grandmother, Marie Bernasconi, his brother Colt and an aunt and uncle, John and Susan Angelo, still reside.
"I definitely miss Niagara Falls -- I've only been back twice in the last six years," Printup said. "I've gotten used to not having a lot of snow, but there's always something special about where you grew up."
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | July 15 2003 |