Revenues for U.S. Indian gaming increased 4.4 percent in 2016 from the year before according to figures released last week by the National Indian Gaming Commission was a total of .2 billion nationwide. The figures are gross revenues, not gross profits, but area the highest GGR on record.
Chairman Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri said in a statement, “The success reflected in the 2016 gross gaming revenue is due, at least in part, to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’s promotion of tribal self-determination principals.”
Today 57 percent of gaming revenue is generated by tribes in small, mostly rural areas, many of them grossing less than $25 million per year. Gaming is offered by 244 federally recognized tribes in 29 states.
One tribe that does not release any information about its casino revenues or profits is the Navajo Reservation, so its figures are not included in this total.
Chaudhuri added, “The stable growth is reflective of a healthy and well-regulated industry with a tremendous impact on local and state economies. When Congress passed IGRA almost thirty years ago, it expressly cited in its findings and purposes the long standing federal policy goal to promote tribal economic development, tribal self-sufficiency, and strong tribal governments; no other economic driver has been able to do that for Indian country as successfully as gaming.”
He also said, “This of course is excellent news for so many tribal nations and local communities who rely on Indian gaming. However, it must always be remembered that not all tribes game, the majority of tribes that do have moderate operations and gaming revenue was never intended to supplant other programs and policies that further self-determination.”
There are seven administrative districts to the National Indian Gaming Commission.
Although all seven posted gains, one district that is outpacing the national average growth is the Oklahoma City region, where gaming revenues grew 5.7 percent for the 2016 fiscal year. This region includes western Oklahoma and Texas.
The fastest growth was in the Sacramento region, which includes California and northern Nevada, where the growth rate was 6.3 percent.
The slowest growth rate was 1.1 percent, which included the north-central region, and takes in nine states.
Commenting on the growth in all seven districts Chaudhuri said, “The fact that there was a broad increase in GGR says at least two things: one is that there continues to be stable and steady growth in the Indian gaming industry that transcends geographic boundaries.
“Second, the connection between the strong regulatory structure of Indian gaming and a fair and predictable industry has yielded benefits on a national scale, so much so that the geographic benefits are pretty evenly-shared,” he said.
