Indian Gaming Surges for 10th Straight Year

 According to the new Indian Gaming Industry Report, this was the 10th straight year revenue increased more than 15 percent, a rate three times faster than traditional gaming operations.

Written by Dr. Alan Meister, an economist with Analysis Group, Inc, he explained this segment of the gaming industry has seen very steady and consistent growth. "There has been a pretty consistent pattern of growth going on over the past few years," Meister told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "It\'s like a perfect straight line going up. In some ways, it\'s pretty amazing. But it shows the resilience of the Indian gaming industry."

The lion’s share of the increase has been in California, where 57 Indian gaming casinos pulled in $7.2 billion during 2005, a 23.7 percent increase from the previous year. To put the numbers in perspective, the Las Vegas Strip brought in about $6 billion in 2005 while Atlantic City saw about $5 billion revenue at its casinos.

California currently operates 59,670 slot machines, a four percent increase from 2004, and 2,099 table games, a 15.3 percent increase over 2004. Only a single casino opened in California last year. There are more casinos on the way, however, since 11 tribes are vying for rights to build their own gambling parlors.

In the report Meister said while gaming is big business in California it will never be like Las Vegas because there are restrictions on certain table games. And since there are restrictions on their location they will never be clustered together to create a major destination. With a population of 34 million, Meister said Indian tribes have a large pool of potential clients, but the trick is to get them to stay there rather than go to Nevada.

"The trick is enticing them to stay in California, at least a little more often, rather than crossing the border into Nevada," Meister said.

Non-gaming revenues are also on the rise at Native American Casino, jumping 17.7 percent last year to $2.3 billion in 2005. Mimicking a successful formula mastered in Las Vegas and being perfected in Atlantic City, these casinos are adding more amenities to keep players happy off the gaming floor as well.

The two most successful Indian gaming enterprises in the U.S. are the pair of Connecticut casinos – Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. The report said these two properties had a combined revenue of $2.3 billion last year. The properties are in fact the two largest casinos in the world. Foxwoods is currently in the middle of another expansion project valued at $700 million while Mohegan Sun is currently developing its own master plan for expansion. 

The fastest growth state was Nebraska which increased revenue 228 percent by adding a third casino while Alaska, Maine, South Carolina and Louisiana all saw gaming revenue declines. In Louisiana the loss is attributed to the after-effects of hurricane Katrina.

Oklahoma also saw a huge increase in revenue, enough to push its position to fourth from sixth on the list of most lucrative states for Indian gaming. The state brought in $1.4 billion after changing its laws last year to offer the same variety of games as in Nevada.

In all Indian gaming employees 310,000 people who earn about $10.5 billion in wages. There are 30 states with 420 Indian casinos operated by 227 tribes. Their properties feature 261,157 slot machines and 7,183 table games.