- Mike Bean, a former Morongo Casino Resort & Spa chief executive, becomes Hard Rock Casino Tejon’s president Oct. 5, succeeding Chris Kelley.
- The casino runs 2,100 slot machines, and the tribe’s state compact allows up to 3,000.
- The compact waives revenue-sharing payments for seven years of gaming, then sets rates of 6% and 7% of slot net win.
- Hard Rock plans to break ground in October on a second phase that includes an 11-story, 400-room hotel.
METTLER, Calif. – Mike Bean, who ran Morongo Casino Resort & Spa as chief executive, takes over as property president of Hard Rock Casino Tejon on Oct. 5, replacing Chris Kelley, according to a Sept. 28 release from the Tejon Indian Tribe and the casino. Kelley ran the casino from its launch through its first year.
Bean Moves From Morongo To Tejon
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians named Bean chief executive of Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in February 2025, Global Gaming Business reported. Hard Rock’s release says Bean also led the Arizona operator Desert Diamond Casinos & Entertainment and has more than 30 years in gaming and hospitality. Tejon Indian Tribe Chairman Octavio Escobedo III said Bean has “built a reputation for developing strong teams, delivering operational excellence and creating exceptional experiences.”
The property sits on tribal land in Mettler, under 15 miles from Bakersfield on the city’s south side. Hard Rock’s opening release called it the “first full-scale gaming and entertainment property in Kern County” when it opened Nov. 13, 2025. It joins the land-based casinos in California with a gaming floor of 150,000 square feet holding 2,100 slot machines and over 60 table games. On opening day, the count stood at upward of 2,000 slot machines and over 50 table games.
The Compact Leaves Room For 900 More Slot Machines
The Tejon Indian Tribe runs the casino under a compact with the state, one of the agreements that frame tribal gambling in California. It took effect Nov. 23, 2022, according to the Interior Department’s Federal Register notice.
Section 4.1 entitles the tribe to operate up to 3,000 gaming devices, and Section 2.11 defines a device as a slot machine, video poker included. On Hard Rock’s count of 2,100 slot machines, the casino has room for 900 more without amending the agreement. The definition does not reach dealt table games, so they do not count against the cap.
Section 4.3 sets the tribe’s yearly share of the state’s compact administration and regulation costs by the most machines it operated in the prior fiscal year, measured against the peak count for all California tribes, so a higher machine count raises its share the following year.
Revenue-Sharing Payments Start After Seven Years
Section 5.2 says the tribe has no obligation to pay into the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund or the Tribal Nation Grant Fund during the first seven years in which gaming occurs, citing its predevelopment expenses and a 2019 mitigation agreement with Kern County. Both funds distribute money from gaming tribes to eligible non-gaming and limited-gaming tribes. Fort Mojave’s compact waives payment into them for a tribe that draws from them.
After the window closes, Section 5.2 requires 6% of the net win from slot machines above 350 and up to 2,250, and 7% on machines from 2,251 to 3,000. At 2,100 machines, Tejon sits 150 below the line where the rate rises.
Section 5.3 then lets the tribe credit up to 65% of those payments against spending on county services, tax reimbursements and other listed purposes. The ceiling drops to 60% in a year when the highest machine count tops 2,250. The compact runs 25 years from its effective date, to November 2047.
Groundbreaking Is Set For October
Hard Rock International and the tribe set the groundbreaking for October, The Bakersfield Californian reported Sept. 23. Its list of second-phase pieces runs to an 11-story, 400-room hotel, a venue for conventions and events, more restaurants and bars, resort amenities and added gaming. Hard Rock’s opening-day release put a Hard Rock Live venue with 2,800 seats in that phase.
Neither Hard Rock release gives a machine count for the expansion, so the compact’s thresholds at 2,250 and 3,000 govern any machines it adds. Escobedo said in the Sept. 28 release that “new developments on the horizon” made Bean the right leader for the property’s next chapter. The release does not name the second phase.
Bean’s first weeks will go to meeting team members and learning the operation, the release said.