Study: Indian casinos win $14.1 bil. in 2002

Tuesday, May 20, 2003 | 11:10 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Indian casinos nationwide won $14.1 billion last year from unlucky gamblers, easily surpassing the gaming revenue in Nevada for a second straight year, according to a study issued today.

While Nevada clubs were struggling in 2002 to recover from 9-11, gross win at Indian casinos rose by 10.8 percent.

The study was performed by Alan Meister, manager of Analysis Group Inc. and presented today at the Great Plains/Midwest Indian Gaming Conference in Minneapolis. Meister, of Los Angeles, said he was not paid for the study. The report is a product of independent research and is distributed to companies as a marketing tool to demonstrate the capabilities of Analysis Group.

The group's first study on Indian gambling, released last year, analyzed 2001 revenue. Meister expects to continue the study next year.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board said Nevada casinos in 2002 reported gross win of $9.4 billion, down 0.26 percent from 2001.

Nevada was still far ahead of California Indian casinos, which reported a gross of $3.4 billion last year. But there are a number of new casinos planned in the neighboring state and the tribes are seeking authorization for additional slot machines.

Meister's report said 221 tribes operated 348 gaming clubs in 30 states. They had 206,000 slot machines and 4,500 table games. Nevada had an estimated 186,430 slot machines with 5,841 table games, according to the Gaming Control Board.

California Indian tribes operated 47,934 slot machines and 1,071 games.

Bill Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association, said he was not surprised at the numbers. Three years ago when he was a member of the National Gaming Commission, Indian gambling was the fastest-growing segment of the industry and that has continued.

He said the numbers in California may be understated because there is no central regulatory system. He said the state of California figures the tribal casinos collected $5 billion.

He said California may surpass Nevada within five years. This report, Bible said shows the nature of the competition to Nevada. The industry must keep its product fresh and updated to attract players, he said.

Meister said there were several reasons for the growth of Indian gaming. The social acceptability of gambling as a form of entertainment remained strong and the Indian casino industry "has been reinventing itself throughout much of the country.

"Over the past year, Indian gaming facilities have added more games, a wider variety of games and more non-gaming amenities, such as luxury hotels, restaurants, shopping and entertainment," the report said

"In fact, some facilities now rival Las Vegas casinos," said Meister. And some customers prefer to visit local casinos rather than travel to the traditional gaming destinations such as Las Vegas.

Tribal casinos have already hurt business in Reno and, to a lesser extent, Laughlin and Primm. Still, major Las Vegas casinos say the spread of tribal casinos -- especially in neighboring California and Arizona -- hasn't yet hurt business. Las Vegas remains a top worldwide destination for tourists because its concentration of entertainment, dining and gambling options can't be duplicated by tribal casinos that are located further apart from one another, they say.

While visitor counts remain high, consumers are spending less because of the troubled economy. Still, drive-in traffic to Las Vegas remains strong and the frequency of trips to the nation's gambling capital has held up against the competition, analysts say.

The Analysis Group study said California tribes led the nation in gross win. Connecticut was second with $1.9 billion from only two casinos. Bible said one of the clubs -- Foxwoods -- is the biggest and most profitable casino in the world.

Minnesota was third with a gross win of $1.3 billion from its 22 casinos. Neighboring Arizona was in fifth place with $959.8 million from 22 gaming locations.

Indian casinos nationwide supported about 228,000 jobs last year. The February report from the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said Nevada's hotels and casinos employed 202,700.

Meister said a study found the Indian casinos directly or indirectly generated $4.8 billion in tax revenue. "While not required to share gaming revenue with state and local governments, some tribes chose to do so anyway," he said.

Bible said the tribes are not required to pay taxes and that gives them more money to invest in new or rehabilitated projects.