Florida’s Seminole Tribe Opens New Brighton Casino Featuring 100-Room Hotel
Posted on: February 7, 2025, 12:46h.
Last updated on: February 7, 2025, 01:13h.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida has opened its newest casino. It comes as a redevelopment of its second-oldest gaming location.
On Thursday, the Seminole Tribe debuted Seminole Brighton Bay Hotel & Casino. The brand-new facility replaces Seminole Casino Brighton, which opened in 1980.
The new destination includes nearly 38K square feet of gaming with 640 slot machines and 18 live dealer blackjack, craps, and roulette table games. High-stakes bingo and a smoke-free gaming room with 104 slots are additionally included.
A VIP room has four table games and 42 high-dollar slots. There are five Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook kiosks for guests to make sports bets. Mobile sports betting is available statewide through the Hard Rock Bet application.
This grand opening is a proud moment for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Brighton Seminole Reservation, and the entire region,” said Marty Johns, general manager. “We are excited to welcome guests to a new era of gaming, dining, and entertainment that will enhance tourism and community growth.”
The biggest difference for the new Seminole Brighton destination is that, unlike the previous casino, the new facility offers on-site lodging. The four-star Brighton Bay Hotel offers 100 guestrooms and three suites on four floors complemented by a fitness center, an outdoor swimming pool, and a lobby bar and entertainment lounge.
The resort additionally includes four eateries offering a range of options from a quick-service Marketplace and comfort food outlet to a Josiah Steakhouse. The property also has a performance hall with seating for up to 900 and a 10-lane bowling alley, a first for any Seminole Casino.
Seminole Tribe History
The Seminole Tribe is among the country’s richest Native American Indian communities. The parent company to Hard Rock International, it was only 46 years ago that the Seminoles began their foray into gambling with a small, high-stakes bingo hall, today called Seminole Classic Casino, on their sovereign reservation in Hollywood.
After finding success in the city between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, the Seminoles opened their second gaming facility in Okeechobee. Seminole Brighton Casino debuted in a red barn that also housed a hardware store. Before closing in anticipation of Seminole Brighton Bay Hotel & Casino, the Seminole Brighton Casino measured only 27K square feet and had 400 slots, six poker tables, and electronic blackjack machines.
Seminole Brighton Bay and Classic are two of the tribe’s six casinos in Florida. The others are Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, and Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee.
Brighter Days Ahead
The Seminole Tribe is betting that its Brighton investment, a figure that wasn’t publicly disclosed, will make the northwestern side of Lake Okeechobee a more attractive destination for gamblers seeking a quieter place to play than its larger Hard Rock-branded integrated resorts in Tampa and Hollywood.
The grand opening of the Seminole Brighton Bay Hotel & Casino is not just about a new building, it’s about growth, opportunity, and a bright future for our community. This project represents our commitment to honoring our heritage while embracing progress, and we are proud to welcome guests to experience the hospitality, culture, and excitement that make Seminole gaming truly special,” said Seminole Tribe of Florida Brighton Reservation Councilman Larry Howard.
The Brighton Bay name, tribal officials said, “salutes popular sportfishing sites of nearby Lake Okeechobee.” The lake is the largest in Florida, covering 730 square miles. It is exceptionally shallow for a lake of its size, with an average depth of just nine feet.
Fisheating Bay, a little more than three miles from the new casino, got its name from the Seminole phrase “Thlothlopopka-Hatchee,” recorded on an 1839 military map that translates to “the river where the fish are eaten.”
Gamblers hope they’ll be the ones scoring the catch at the new Seminole Brighton Bay Casino.
Last Comments ( 7 )
Went to the Casino Friday night to play neon Bingo. Sooo much fun! Everything was great with the exception of the cigarette smell in the Casino. I know that's to be expected. I will definitely be going back.
Very Disappointed in Brighton Casino. Food was stone cold had to ask to talk to a manager he was worthless. To many of the same slot machine no vary. Some of the workers had attitude others were great. Rooms was beautiful clean and smelled new. Love the old Brighton food was great. At the old Brighton they had barrel with water bottle in it, soda machine and also coffee was available so you didn't have to wait an hour to get a drink. VERY VERY DISAPPOINED
went there Monday after making sure the table games would be open. the rep from India.. thats right she could barely understand english... said all games where open . Got there at 11 after a 1.5 hour ride, only to see 5 of the 20 tables were open. ask about the craps table only to be told it will not open until ..5 and that would be a maybe. the pit boss at the table games said they do not have the people to run the table. ??? then why do you advertise your table games are open 24 7??????? Sorry.. but this is strike three. other experiences at the old casino. and some one posted there wasn't a place to eat that had proper seating and that is true ...main rest. was closed at noon middle rest had 45 min wait.. small pizza place 16 min to get a slice of pizza.Even the new bowling alley was not open... sorry not worth the ride to be disappointed.
If you don't like penny slots this is not the casino for you.
Just went to the new casino in Okeechobee yesterday. It was nice and friendly but what wasn't so nice is the lack of eateries yhey have to offer. the steak restaurant was large but not able to handle the amount of people who wanted to sit down and get a bite to eat for lunch and for a Tuesday afternoon they told us it would be a 2hour wait. So we went to the coffee grind where you can get a burger or slice of pizza but the place only had 3 tables and no where else to sit so people were not happy. We wanted to keep playing in the casino but we were hungry so we left we only got to play for 2 hours because we needed to leave and go to a restaurant miles away from the casino. We go to the tampa, hollywood and coconut creek casino often just not sure if we will ever go back to the Okeechobee hard rock casino. They need to change/add more seating, offer an actual food court and more of what a casino has to to offer.
Why do I get better rewards at Immokalee ? I spend the same amount of money at Brighton .
We are in Wisconsin Wish we were at your new casino use to live about thirty miles from the old one