According to the National Indian Gaming Commission, Oklahoma accounts for 28 percent of the total tribal gaming operations in the U.S. and generates more than 16 percent of total U.S. gaming revenue.
Those numbers are expected to continue to rise, said Oklahoma City University School of Law Economics Professor Kyle Dean, who recently spoke at the Sovereignty Symposium, hosted by the university.
Dean said the state’s gaming industry has not yet reached the “saturation point.”
According to Tulsa World, he said, “Is gaming saturated? Are we done with gaming? No. It’s not saturated, and it continues to fund the programs and services for tribal citizens and in a lot of cases for non-tribal citizens. These tribes are anchors of our towns around the state, and they provide an important employment base for those areas.”
Dean pointed out the economic influence of tribes has increased. For example, tribes pay the state $17.6 million in monthly exclusivity fees, up from $10.7 million.
Under the state’s gaming compact, the state receives 4 percent to 6 percent of slot-machine revenue and 10 percent from table games. The state collected more than $202 million in tribal gaming exclusivity fees in fiscal year 2023, a 5.6 percent increase over fiscal year 2022, according to the Gaming Compliance Unit of the state’s Office of Management Enterprise Services.
Dean noted tribes are the state’s second-largest employer behind the Department of Defense. He said tribal gaming success has allowed them to expand investments to non-gaming businesses, as well increase allocations to healthcare, education and infrastructure. Dean added about half of the recently created jobs are not in the gaming industry, benefiting tribal and non-tribal citizens.
Dean said Oklahoma’s 146 casinos have led to population growth in Tulsa and Oklahoma counties, as well as in rural Bryan, Love and other counties near the Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas borders. Also, he said about one-third of the state’s gaming industry revenue is provided by non-Oklahomans. “That’s the best kind of impact,” Dean said.
About 650 people attended the 2-day symposium, including governors and tribal leaders. Panels of legal and other experts discussed government-to-government relations, water management and other topics. OCU School of Law Dean David Holt said the event “a conversation about how you move forward, how you partner between state, federal and tribal governments.”
