The first Hard Rock Cafe opened in 1971 in London. In 2007 Hard Rock International, which had fallen on tough times, was purchased for just under $1bn by the Seminoles, a Native American tribe in Florida. The Seminoles have built a hospitality empire that now encompasses 15 casinos and 36 hotels using the brand, including a casino in the Dominican Republic and a resort in the Maldives. Such venues, not the restaurants, have become the real money-spinners. In 2023 the firm launched an online-gambling app, Hard Rock Bet, in Florida; it has since been rolled out in nine other American states.
The restaurants themselves are losing ground. Last year Chicago's Hard Rock Cafe shut its doors after nearly 40 years. In January 2026 the Manchester branch, opened in 2000, also closed, joining those in Paris, Sydney and elsewhere. Still, Hard Rock Cafes operate in more than 50 countries. In 2025 Hard Rock International generated $7.9bn in revenue, according to Forbes, up by a third from two years earlier.
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