For the first time in its history, the National Indian Gaming Association brought its Indian Gaming Tradeshow and Conference to Las Vegas—albeit with some reluctance since the “normal” location of San Diego was not available in 2018. But it all worked out in the end as the show saw an increase of more than 25 percent in attendance, a boost in exhibitors and an energy not felt in quite some time.
Maybe it’s the newfound denouement between NIGA and the American Gaming Association. AGA President and CEO Geoff Freeman joined NIGA Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr. in a show of unity, primarily about the issue of sports betting, which will receive a boost soon when the U.S. Supreme Court decides on a case challenging the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act brought by the state of New Jersey. On this issue, tribal and commercial gaming is unified.
“Get the federal government out of the way,” said Freeman.
Stevens agreed. “We want to be part of it,” he said, “and we anticipate it will come in accordance with the law recognizing us as sovereign governments.”
Moderated by Chris Stearns, a member of the Washington State Gambling Commission, the two leaders said the unity goes far beyond sports betting, however.
“It’s all about growth, it’s all about building a stronger industry,” said Freeman, who wants to grow the economic impact of the combined industries to over $300 billion in the next few years.
As might be expected at a conference on tribal gaming, Class II machines were a hot topic.
Dan Little was a member of the National Indian Gaming Commission when the regulations surrounding Class II gaming were revived. Little is now Aristocrat’s VP of government relations.
“We revised (the regulations) in 2012 to better reflect where the industry was going,” he said. “We also established the authority that the NIGC would have, or not have, more importantly. (We) had to look at IGRA for this. Our revisions, which brought Class III and Class II regulations much closer in line, gave the industry a lot more confidence. That led to manufacturers investing millions of dollars in the development of new products today.”
And the product today is as good as anything produced as a Class III machine, say many experts.
“Older systems had a huge bingo card on screen, required multiple touches to win, and the game play was not good,” said Doyle Smotherman, director of slot operations at California’s Colusa Casino. “There was a lukewarm reception by our guests. Today, it’s totally different. Now Class II is competing well with Class III, and these games warrant prime locations on our floor.”
A skill games panel brought together a diverse set of manufacturers and operators.
Blaine Graboyes, the CEO of GameCo, which only manufacturers skill games, says the next generation of skill games will include faster play, with decisions occurring almost as fast as traditional slot machines.
Marcus Yoder, the vice president for skill games maker Gamblit, explained that skill games are doing exactly what was expected: producing incremental play from people who would not normally have played slot machines.
And Skyelar Perkins, the slot vice president for the Choctaw casinos in Oklahoma, believes that any casino that has the space should experiment with skill games to attract a wider audience.
Thanks to CDC Reports from contributing to this overview of Indian Gaming 2018.
