Every Virginia casino city “wanted Hard Rock”

BRISTOL, Va. – As the CEO of Hard Rock International, Jim Allen has helped open business locations across the globe, but Thursday proved to be an emotional day.

The guitar-smashing, rock-and-roll-styled ceremony which christened the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol was the highlight of a five-year journey Allen and the Seminole Tribe — which owns Hard Rock — have taken with Bristol businessmen Jim McGlothlin and partner Clyde Stacy.

Allen first flew to Bristol Virginia in 2019 to look at the shuttered mall property that McGlothlin and Stacy envisioned as a casino.

Within a few hours of meeting, they reached an agreement for Hard Rock to manage a resort hotel and casino on the Gate City Highway site.

“It’s truly an amazing day. We have so many locations around the world but this one is truly special. Bristol is such an amazing historical area and our partnership with Mr. McGlothlin and Clyde is really a match made in heaven. We are honored to be their partner.,” Allen said.

At that point, McGlothlin and Stacy had more vision than plan in addition to needing legislative approval from the state.

The men recalled their sides of the meeting during remarks at the opening ceremony.

The connection happened almost by chance. McGlothlin was in Scottsdale Arizona attending a Barrett-Jackson auto auction along with former NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace. Later they went to dinner and the casino came up in conversation. A woman at the table asked who would manage it, McGlothlin recalled Thursday.

“I said, I didn’t have any idea. She said if you’re going to do it right you need Hard Rock. She called Jim Allen and left him a message asking him to call,” McGlothlin said.

Allen recalls taking that first meeting after Hard Rock did some homework.

“Actually, the call went to [HR executive] Jeff Hook first. Jeff said, ‘There is this gentleman [McGlothlin] who has had amazing success. He really fits with the brand because he’s part of his community. It’s not just about the almighty dollar, so what do you think?’

“I said, ‘Bristol probably isn’t the largest economic market,’ but I did exactly what Jim said, and we checked our schedules, and I was here the next morning.”

They met at the mall site.

“He was here from Fort Lauderdale at 8 in the morning. At 11:30 we had a letter of intent, and it was the best thing that ever happened to us,” McGlothlin said.

“It wasn’t about the economics. I just felt this amazing connection, particularly with Jim, because of his character. That’s something that really means a lot to me personally and, obviously, representing the Tribe and being partners with the Tribe, it’s about the future,” Allen said. “He’s right, we basically had the deal done in a very short period of time.

“Like any relationship you have to navigate through all the ups and downs of budgets and buildings and capital markets, but I am truly honored to be your partner Jim and Clyde. We’re so fortunate. Hopefully we’ve collectively created something that everyone is very proud of.”

Compared to larger cities like Norfolk, Portsmouth and Richmond included in the casino legislation, Bristol was an anomaly.

“I certainly didn’t have a lot of knowledge of Bristol … We looked at all the different markets and there is so much history here. Everyone knows Bristol for NASCAR and the race but when I learned about Jim and his background and all the different things he does for the communities, it really seemed pretty special,” Allen said.

As for the site, it wasn’t love at first sight and may be the first Hard Rock in a former mall.

“When I first came down, they had signs up in the old Sears building and that will be the casino. I said, ‘I don’t think that’s going to work.’ Navigating what we could use of the old mall and, obviously, building this new facility, it turned out well.”

Virginia’s casino legislation included five cities and Allen disclosed Thursday all approached Hard Rock.

“We were asked by all the other locations. Every single one wanted the Hard Rock brand,” Allen said. “I’m not going to suggest we would have been successful in achieving that, but we were reached out to by all the other locations. Every single one.”

They chose Bristol and the deal was announced in late 2019, days before a Virginia Joint Legislative Audit Review Committee study about potential casino impacts was released.

“We look more long-term about the relationship not just how much gross money a facility can generate,” Allen said. “We knew Bristol had this amazing legacy that we could build upon, the history of music and obviously country music. That’s something very important.”