Editorial: More room for growth in tribal gaming

Friday, July 27, 2007  

"According to an economist’s report on the gambling industry, tribal casinos saw a decrease in revenue growth and a decline in the number of gambling sites being opened in 2006.

Does that mean the saturation point has been reached for casinos on tribal lands?

It is unlikely that the growth threshold has been reached or that a moratorium will be imposed on new casinos, such as the $200 million casino-hotel complex to be built by the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma at the intersection of the Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma borders.

Tempering the impact of the slower growth rate is the fact that only one new casino, according to an Associated Press article, was built in 2006. Even with that as a factor, revenue rose at the rate of 11 percent. The average revenue growth had been 15 percent over the past decade.

By any measurement, tribal casinos are big business. Last year, they employed more than 325,000 people nationwide, contributed $80 billion-plus to the economy and generated nearly $12 billion in taxes. And an 11 percent growth, even if it proves not to be an anomaly, is heady stuff."

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In our view: Still room for more (The Joplin Globe 7/27)