Welcome to the ICE 365 Tribal Gaming Series

As the entire land-based sector, including operations run by the tribes, is focusing on recovery, we have launched a Tribal Survey in partnership with Pechanga.net.

This project will help us build a picture of what that recovery is looking like, how tribes are prioritising their activities and what investment opportunities they may consider as part of that process.  

We’re inviting tribal operators, governments and regulators to participate, so click here to complete the Tribal Survey.

The results will be made available when the Tribal Gaming series launches in mid-April and will be discussed during one of the digital speakeasies on 19 April – register your interest here.

About the ICE 365 Tribal Gaming series

Tribal gaming now constitutes more than 50% of the GGR of the US gambling sector, yet it is still often misunderstood or even ignored by the global stakeholders.  

With sports betting and igaming launching in multiple states, many international businesses are starting to take notice, viewing the Native American operations as a partnership and market access opportunity. 

But tribal gaming is governed by a different set of rules than commercial businesses. Anyone wanting to engage with the tribes needs to get acquainted with the concepts of sovereignty, compacts, state-tribal relations, tribal regulatory structure and tribal community.  

New channels and new verticals now opening up in the US offer opportunities for the tribes to innovate and modernise, while adding to their land-based offering. New channels might offer tribes an opportunity for quicker growth as they exit the global pandemic. However, their core focus remains on ensuring that their land-based operations, a crucial source of revenue and jobs, recover quickly. 

The Tribal Gaming series will include a number of on-demand and live content pieces, which aim to improve understanding of tribal gaming and exchange expertise on expanding into new products and verticals. 

Watch:  

• Jim Ryan on Pala Interactive’s post-PASPA betting and igaming boom. In this video, Pala Interactive chief executive and igaming industry veteran Ryan explains how the tribe has built its expertise and generated thriving B2B and B2C businesses.  He talks over what drove Pala’s ambition to invest in digital, and how the evolving regulatory map in California and beyond prompted its focus to evolve from online poker to social casino, igamingand now sports betting.  

Read:

• The evolving concept of exclusivity in tribal gaming sees Valerie Spicer of Trilogy Group discuss how the wave of gaming expansion sweeping the US affects Native American operators’ agreements with states. Native American operators have fought for exclusive rights to gaming for decades, to ensure their operations provide returns to tribal communities. But now they face a dilemma over how to engage with these legalised verticals, while protecting their interests.

Learn:

• Get exclusive insights into the financial performance of casinos in Indian Country in the tribal gaming dashboard. This extract from the Tribal Gaming Report, due to go live on Wednesday (21 April), reveals that Native American gaming is set to account for more than half of US casino GGR in 2020, but will this leading position sustain in the coming years?
• Watch last week’s webinar, Tribal Gaming: Politics in Indian Country, on-demand. This webinar, moderated by Victor Rocha of Pechanga.net, takes a closer look at the key themes and trends shaping up the present and the future of tribal gaming. 

Coming up this week…

• 19 April at 4:30 pm GMT / 11:30 am ET / 8:30 am PST Digital speakeasy on Post-Covid recovery: Drawing from the Tribal Survey, this invite-only digital conversation will bring together tribal operations and advisers to discuss strategies for post-Covid recovery and growth. 
  Click here to register.

• 20 April at 4 pm GMT / 11 am ET / 9 am PST: Hospitality and Amenities in Tribal Casinos –Getting the ROI Back, sponsored by Kambi and featuring contributors such as Peter Arceo, casino general manager, San Manuel Casino; Max Meltzer, chief commercial officer, Kambi; Tom Cantone, president of sports & entertainment, Mohegan Gaming Enterprise and Bobby Soper, president and CEO, Sun Gaming and Hospitality.  
  Click here to learn more and register. 

Also coming this week…

• The Kambi-sponsored Tribal Gaming Report (22 April) goes live, offering the most comprehensive picture of gaming in Indian Country available.

• The early adopters video series continues with the likes of Anika Howard, Foxwoods Casino & Resort (20 April); Bea Carson, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (21 April) and Jay Dorris of Wind Creek Hospitality (22 April)
• The week’s keynote videos start tomorrow (20 April) with ICE 365’s evening out at Mohegan Sun, where MGE executives talk about the recovery, sports wagering, international expansion and their partnership with Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
• Also coming up this week is an in-depth interview with Greg Sarris, chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. Sarris, a published author and professor, has led the charge to secure federal recognition for the tribe, and speaks exclusively to ICE 365.
• The National Indian Gaming Association follows later in the week, with chairman Ernie Stevens, a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, discussing the main challenges, opportunities and policy focus of the association.
• Opinion pieces by Prof. Katherine Spilde, Holly Cook Macarro, Richard Schuetz and Jesses Robles take a personal and in-depth look at some of the key trends and developments that are set to shape Indian Country in the near future.