Indian gaming in US falls nearly 20%

There was a 19.5 per cent decrease in the revenues of gaming at Indian casino venues in the US in 2020.

The National Indian Gaming Commission reported that GGR was $27.8bn. The blame for the sharp decrease was laid at the door of Covid-19. One area, the Rapid City region, experienced the largest decrease at 36.6 per cent.

Chairman E Sequoyah Simermeyer said that it was very much as expected. “The unknown was just how much of an impact Covid had on Indian gaming.

“Every year the annual GGR figure tells a story about Indian gaming’s successes, contributions to Indian communities and economic impacts. This was highlighted even more during the pandemic.”

The figure is an aggregate of revenue from 524 independently audited financial statements of 248 federally recognised tribes across 29 states.