Jeff Crawford, an attorney for the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe, recently said the tribe will continue to withhold its million annual payment to the state until Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker makes a decision on the Menominee Tribe’s proposed 8 million off-reservation Menominee Hard Rock casino in Kenosha. Walker has until February 19, 2015 to approve the project, which received the go-ahead from the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Potawatomi tribe, which , along with the Ho-Chunk tribe, strongly opposes the Kenosha casino, announced last month it would not make its annual payment of a share of gaming revenue from its Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee. The move already is making a significant financial impact in the state budget. “I think that we will follow our compact and the provisions that allow us to dispute that payment. From our perspective the state will have to pay us potentially hundreds of millions of dollars over the years if the Kenosha project goes forward,” Crawford said. Those compacts were signed by then-Governor Jim Doyle.
Meanwhile the Menominee have been advertising to fill the thousands of new jobs that would be available at the proposed casino.
Opponents have noted the proposed partnership between Hard Rock International and the Menominee tribe, which was announced last October, would send millions in profits back to Florida, the home-base of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, owners of Hard Rock International. Details of the Menominee-Hard Rock agreement, including the percentage of profits that the Florida Seminole tribe would receive, have not been made public. The partnership would be the first time a Wisconsin-based casino would be managed by an out-of-state tribe.
Frank Fantini, chief executive officer of the Fantini Gaming Report, called Hard Rock “a very big brand, known internationally. The brand has a great reputation. It would give immediate visibility to the casino in Kenosha.” University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor Richard Monette, director of the Great Lakes Indian Law Center, said Hard Rock likely would receive 30-40 percent of the Kenosha casino’s total revenue. He noted in previous arrangements with other potential developers, the Menominee would have shared at least 25 percent of its gaming revenues. Cullen Werwie, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of the Administration, said tribal gaming compact details are not a matter of public record.
Menominee spokesman Michael Beightol said the percentage of shared revenue is a “moving target” that will decrease incrementally after Hard Rock is repaid its initial $800 million investment in the Kenosha project. “In a project of this magnitude, they should absolutely be reimbursed for that investment, and they should make a profit along the way,” Beightol said. The tribe has promised to spend gaming revenue on human and social services as well as college scholarships if the Kenosha proposal is approved.
In response to those who said the Menominee-Hard Rock partnership was a mistake because revenues would leave Wisconsin, Beightol noted the tribe attempted to partner with the Potawatomi. “The Potawatomi turned their backs not only on income for members of their own tribe, but they turned their backs on one of the poorest tribes in the state,” Beightol said.
Potawatomi spokesman George Ermert said the tribe did consider partnering with the Menominee. “The issue was brought up. But every time the offer was made it came with a catch,” Ermert said.
Hard Rock International Chief Executive Officer Jim Allen said, “We believe there are a tremendous amount of people in the state of Wisconsin today who are going to casinos in Illinois,” Allen says. “We think a facility so close to the Illinois border will bring those people back to the state of Wisconsin and bring back those jobs and revenues to the state of Wisconsin.” Allen added ongoing talks with the opposing tribes about revenue-sharing have gone well so far.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida purchased the Hard Rock corporation for $1 billion in 2007. The tribe operates seven casinos in Florida, including two under the Hard Rock name, with a total of 12,500 slots an 340 table games. State gaming reports indicate Seminole gaming could bring in $2.1 billion for the current fiscal year.
In Wisconsin, Indian gaming is a $1 billion industry with $50 million going to the state annually. The state’s 11 tribes share a percentage of their casino profits with tribal members as per capita payments. In 2012 the Potawatomi paid each tribal member $80,000 and the Menominee gave each member $75.
