How sports betting upended the economies of Native American tribes.
13 min read
In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, one tribe saw its gambling revenue decline sharply last year because of chaos in the online betting business.And in Arizona, traditional casinos and sports teams gobbled up 95% of the nascent sports-betting market, which will be on vivid display at Sunday’s Super Bowl in Glendale, where fans in attendance can bet on the game for the first time.
The field has been crowded by a combination of fast-growing online platforms such as DraftKings and FanDuel and by old-school casino companies such as Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International. Companies have deployed armies of lobbyists, lavished lawmakers with gifts and campaign cash, and at times trotted out questionable data to extract favorable deals in state capitals.Some tribes are seeing revenue evaporate as giant gambling companies enter the fray.
Gambling in Michigan expanded twice over the objections of tribes: once in 1996 to allow commercial casinos in Detroit and again in 2003 for betting in bars and restaurants. The handful of tribes that teamed up with the biggest operators — like the Bay Mills Indian Community did with DraftKings — have done well.
With the long-term viability of betting in doubt, the tribe is investing in its golf courses and real estate. “We were beaten down so hard, it wasn’t even funny,” Mark Fox, the tribe’s chair, said in an interview in Bismarck, the state capital. “They have the big casinos where people can go stay overnight, have dinner and drinks,” said state Rep. James Kasper, a Fargo Republican. “They are the only entities with those brick-and-mortar buildings.”
Ducey hosted a signing ceremony in April 2021 at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, which is dedicated to American Indian art. Five months later, Arizona went live with sports betting in time for the 2021 NFL season. To date, the five biggest sports-betting companies — FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars and Penn Entertainment — have dominated the market in Arizona.
Arizona’s scramble helped to prompt another tribe to end the slots deal that had generated up to $7 million a year for the Paiutes. Eventually, the Paiutes found a different partner to offer sports betting — Britain-based company Betway — but the terms won’t generate as much money initially. In April 2021, they joined Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, to announce a deal for a new 30-year compact giving them the exclusive right to offer online betting throughout Florida on sports and other games, among other new gambling offerings. In exchange, they would pay the state a minimum of $2.5 billion over the first five years of the compact.
The position that DraftKings and Kudon took in Florida — that the location of the servers was not sufficient — seemed logically inconsistent with an argument that they had used to push for the legalization of online sports betting in New York.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Native American sign language arrives at the Super BowlViewers who tune into the Super Bowl pregame show on Sunday will be treated to a performance of “America the Beautiful,” which will be told, in part, through Native American sign language.
Read more »
MLB confident fans will get to see Guardians on TV in 2023: The week in baseball“We have been contingency planning to ensure that no matter what happens with the (regional sports networks), fans will be able to continue watching their favorite teams in their local market,” said Noah Garden, MLB chief revenue officer.
Read more »
Native dancers want Arizona gallery owner held on hate crimeNative American dancers who were the target of a suburban Phoenix gallery owner’s racist rant as they were being filmed for Super Bowl week are pushing for hate crime charges
Read more »
La Grange native Ben LaBolt named new White House communications directorLa Grange native Ben LaBolt will replace Kate Bedingfield as White House communications director by the end of the month.
Read more »
Death of South Dakota boy, 6, calls attention to crime crisis on Native reservationsMembers of South Dakota's Oglala Sioux tribe are suing the government over surging crime on Native reservations, including a sudden barrage of gunfire that killed a 6-year-old boy.
Read more »
Native Dancers Want Arizona Gallery Owner Held on Hate Crime ChargesNative American dancers who were the target of a suburban Phoenix gallery owner’s racist rant as they were being filmed for Super Bowl week are pushing for hate crime charges.
Read more »