For 17 years, Alan Meister has computed Native American gaming revenues. This year he took it one step further.
Instead, commissioned by the American Gaming Association, this year Meister computed the total economic impact figures for Native American gaming, taking the revenue numbers and employing what economists call a multiplier effect.
“We’re talking about how money trickles down through the economy,” Meister said.
His numbers: Native American gaming collects about $30 billion per year from gambling, which translates to $96.6 billion in output.
Meister, the principal economist for Nathan Associates in Irvine, California, discussed the economic impact of Indian gaming Wednesday afternoon with Victor Rocha, president of Victor Strategies.
Most native American casinos are not required to release their revenue figures, so Meister first gathers what information he can via public data. He then works with tribes, gaming facilities, gaming regulators, and federal and tribal regulators to get more data, then obtains confidential private data. To fill in any gaps, he performs analysis and develops market models. He also restricts his reports to state-by-state, rather than by casino, which helps protect confidentiality.
California dominates the Indian gaming scene, collecting about $8 billion, a little more than one-fourth of total Native American revenues. That projects to $17 billion in economic impact output and 111,931 jobs.
Overall, 242 tribes operate 494 gaming facilities in the United States. Indian gaming operates in 28 states. The top five: California, $7.9B; Oklahoma, $4.2B; Florida, $2.6B; Washington, $2.5B; and Arizona, $1.9B.
Overall, Meister sees growth in customer development, maturing markets, conversions to Class III gaming and possibly new facility through acquisition of land-in-trust.
“There are some markets that are not yet mature,” he said.
There also was big growth in Texas, South Dakota and North Carolina, each of which were up more than 10 percent.
He also repeatedly stressed that there is a great disparity among tribes; 57 percent of the casinos collect $25 million or less.
“For a lot of small facilities, they’re just helping the tribes to provide jobs,” he said.
Tribal gaming is by far the biggest driver in Indian economies. Non-gaming businesses account for about $3.9 billion, according to Meister.
