The tribal gaming business is booming, with 7 out of 8 regions showcasing a year-on-year increase. The number published by the National Indian Gaming Commission for FY22 highlights that the regions have brought a combined total of $40.9 billion in terms of Gross Gaming Revenue, also known as GGR.
This is a 4.9% increase when compared to the figure for FY21. That was $39 billion for all the regions combined. What makes the GGR for FY22 remarkable is the kind of history that it has created. The most recent number marks the highest revenue throughout the time casinos have operated in their best capacity.
The highest increase has been registered by Phoenix, with GGR standing at a jump of 15.7%. The lowest increase has been registered by Portland at 1.0%. The only region where the tribal casino business took a hit in the year is Sacramento. The decrease is at -1.4%.
- Sequoyah Simermeyer, the Chairperson, has stated that an increase or decrease in any region cannot be considered a core factor in evaluating the economic condition of that region. Rightly so, since they have added that there are many factors that affect the tribal casino’s business, some of these are closures, gaming operations, and the addition of new titles. That also makes sense when it comes to judging a region for its betting operations.
For instance, even though Sacramento witnessed a downfall of -1.4%, it is still the highest earner, with $11.8 billion on the table. This makes up 28.8% of the total GGR for FY22.
Having said that, Phoenix has the highest jump of 15.8%, but it still has the lowest-generating GGR for the year. It comes to $3.72 billion. Compare that to Portland, and one gets a clear idea about why the current increase or decrease is not the ideal way to judge gambling activities at tribal casinos. Portland’s GGR increased only by 1%, and yet it has a higher GGR of $4.48 billion than that of Phoenix.
The numbers shared by the National Indian Gaming Commission cover 244 federally recognized tribes throughout 29 states, with 519 gaming operations in the picture.
According to the gaming news, Hovland, the Vice Chair of the Commission, believes that the positive results for FY22 reflect the financial and geographic diversity of Indian gaming. She has further noted that the success will have effective benefits on regional economies and communities surrounding the regions.
- Sequoyah has called the revenue historic, adding that it reflects the resiliency of gaming operations by tribes and the manner in which they continue to rebound with strength. E. Sequoyah has also acknowledged that the operations licensed by Tribal Governments constantly work to explore innovation with the purpose of delivering the best experience and expanding their operations for a sustainable economy.
The goal of Tribal Governments could be to retain the numbers with all eight regions positive.
