Tribal Gaming Operators Generate Record $39B in FY21, 43 Casinos Make 52% GGR
Posted on: August 12, 2022, 12:05h. 
Last updated on: August 12, 2022, 12:13h.
Tribal gaming enjoyed a record-breaking year in fiscal year 2021, federal officials announced earlier this week. Nevertheless, a deeper look at the data supplied by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) showed a little quantity of operators reaped most of the positive aspects.
The country’s tribal casinos and other venues reported gross gaming revenues (GGR) of $39 billion for the fiscal year. That represented a 40% improvement more than the $27.eight billion won in fiscal year 2020, which was impacted severely by COVID-19. It also is a 13% jump from the 2019 fiscal year GGR.
“I’d like to state that, in common, Indian gaming is performing really properly,” NIGC Chairman E. Sequoyah Simermeyer stated in a video statement Wednesday announcing the final results. “You have rebounded from the business-wide challenges faced for the duration of the pandemic. If fiscal year 2021 has shown anything, it has demonstrated that Indian gaming is a resilient business.”
COVID-19 still had an influence on the tribal gaming community. Simermeyer noted the nation endured a record high quantity of closures.
43 Casinos Accounted for Majority of GGR
The commission noted the disparity that exists amongst tribal gaming entities.
For example, eight% of the tribes reported their gaming enterprises generated revenues of at least $250 million for the fiscal year. That’s compared to 55% that reported GGR of significantly less than $25 million.
That best 8%, which equates to 43 operators, accounted for 52% of all tribal GGR last year, although the bottom 55% produced just six%.
Tribes engage in gaming for a selection of factors and have different methods to define an operations’ accomplishment,” Vice Chair Jeanne Hovland said. “Not all gaming operations saw as fantastic of a rebound in revenues. Location, regional dynamics about competitors, and other regional financial traits – like workforce and tourism opportunities – can all shape operators’ individual strategies and the pace of recovery.”
In fiscal year 2020, just four% of operators reported revenues of $250 million or more. Those with GGR totals of less than $25 million accounted for 64% of the operators.
Some Regions Still Behind 2019 Totals
From a regional point of view, all eight of the commission’s regions reported at least a 28.3% boost from 2020. The Fast City, SD region reported a 56% jump. The casinos in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming posted GGR totaling $372.six million.
Sacramento once once more was the most profitable region, with the tribal venues in California and Northern Nevada producing $11.9 billion in revenues. The DC region, which encompasses all tribal gaming outlets in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, and North Carolina, reported a total GGR of $8.1 billion.
To Hovland’s point about recovery, while five regions reported gains of at least 9.8% compared to 2019, three of the NIGC’s regions still have however to return to pre-pandemic income levels.
The Speedy City area was down 1.1% from its 2019 total. Casinos in the St. Paul region, which consists of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, generated $4.8 billion last year. That’s down $135 million, or 2.7%, from its 2019 total.
In the Phoenix region, which covers Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Southern Nevada, the $three.two billion in GGR for 2021 was practically $58 million significantly less than its 2019 tally.