Rosalie Murphy

The Desert Sun

Native American-owned and -operated gambling facilities generated $29.9 billion in revenue nationwide in 2015, according to information released Tuesday by the National Indian Gaming Commission.

That's a 5 percent increase over the $28.5 billion generated in 2014, according to records collected annually by the NIGC, the federal body that regulates Indian gaming. It's the largest year-over-year increase in a decade, though revenues have been ticking up steadily since 2009.

"The strong regulation that tribes, as well as federal regulators and other stakeholders, provides has played a key role in the stability and growth of the Indian gaming industry by providing consistency and predictability," said NIGC chairman Jonodev O. Chaudhuri in a statement following a news conference on the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians' reservation in Indio.

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The 71 casinos in California and northern Nevada generated $7.9 billion in 2015, an average of $111.3 million per facility, according to the NIGC. Only the gaming sites on the Eastern seaboard were more profitable — 31 casinos in that region brought in an average of $225.8 million a piece. The NIGC does not name specific casinos or tribes in these records.

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Last year, there were 474 gambling facilities operated by 283 tribes across the country, an average of almost exactly two per tribe. According to the Commission, 6.5 percent of those facilities — 31 sites — brought in more than $250 million. Twenty percent of them generated less than 3 million.

The NIGC's oldest available records date to 1996, when 232 casinos and other gambling facilities brought in $6.3 billion in revenue. Just 12 of those casinos generated more than $100 million that year. The NIGC did not track casinos producing more than $250 million.

California and northern Nevada appear to be growing faster than other parts of the country. The western region added three casinos and $800 million in revenue, compared to the eastern region's one new facility and $200 million increase in revenue.

Casino revenues have only fallen once year-over-year in the last two decades, according to NIGC's data: Between 2008 and 2009, at the start of the Great Recession.

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Indian gaming has been fully legal since 1987, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians in a case known as California v. Cabazon. In brief, the court held that states could not forbid gambling on reservation lands if gambling was legal in the rest of the state. Soon after, Indian gaming began to grow rapidly, from bingo parlors to fully appointed casinos.

The NIGC praised the Cabazon Band for spearheading that case, which kickstarted gaming nationwide.

"Indian gaming is fundamentally different than commercial enterprises; it directly provides resources for Indian people including, social services, public works, education, housing, health care, emergency services, public safety and cultural presentation programs that no other economic driver has yet to provide," said the NIGC in a statement.

Rosalie Murphy covers real estate and business at The Desert Sun. Reach her at rosalie.murphy@desertsun.com or on Twitter @rozmurph.