Tribal Gaming Businesses Set a Record Year-on-Year Revenue of $33.72 Billion in 2018

National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) has released figures that show a rising volume of land-based and online gambling businesses in Native American tribes. These have risen 4.1% on annual level and have collected a record-breaking revenue of $33.72 billion in 2018!

The numbers have been gathered by combining financial statements that were audited by independent parties – there were 501 of these statements in total that were provided by 241 tribes recognized across 29 states. This is the sum of all tribal gaming.

Multiple Regions Rising

The biggest contributor, looking at it by regions…

…was that of Sacramento region. This area amassed $9.28 billion (3.1% more than in 2017) in global gaming revenue from its 73 venues – although one of these properties got shut down.

One other region that saw tribal gaming venues closed in 2018 was North and South Dakota and Wyoming. In fact, it has three venues shut down, with the number falling from 39 to 36.

The Portland region, which contains Texas, that comprise The Oklahoma City region have risen 7.2% for a total revenue of $2.48 billion.

Breaking it All Down

The winner of “per-venue revenue” segment was Washington DC…

…where, in total, $7.53 billion as generated from 38 venues. 102 facilities have reported less than $3 million in profits. 91 have made between $3m and $10m, while 94 raked in between $10m and $25m. 69 casinos amassed between $25 and $50, while 52 venues collected between $50 and 100m. Finally, 59 casinos took between $100m and $250m.

The single-largest contribution of over $250 million in revenue came from 34 casinos which alone ed for 46.6% of the yearly total.

Kahtryn Isom-Caluse, NIGC vice chair, commended this body’s close cooperation with tribal operators and said that this gathering of reports was a good example of work they did together.

“These numbers reaffirm the industry’s health as a stable economic driver for Indian Country.”

Sequoyah Simermeyer, NIGC commissioner, added:

“The annual GGR tells a positive story about Indian gaming’s economic success and the industry’s ongoing contribution to a strong economy. It also tells the story of how collaboration among tribes, industry and the regulatory communities can build a strong reputation for reliability and integrity in the GGR calculation.”

First Tribal Sports Bill

The sports betting bill filed in state of Washington originated as an initiative from tribal operators…

…making House Bill 1975 the first if its kind. According to it, sports betting would be permitted in-person and online, however, it was not specified whether mobile would also be an option. Online wagers themselves would be allowed only if the person is physically present in the state.

The bill hasn’t made much progress since, so it’s not yet clear whether it will be ed into a law.

Source:

“Tribal gaming operators set new revenue record in 2018”, igbnorthamerica.com, September 13, 2019.