Tribal gaming revenues in California fell 5.3 percent in 2009, according to the new Indian Gaming Industry Report.

Tribes took in $6.9 billion in 2009, down from $7.3 billion in 2008 and $7.8 billion in 2007. This is the second year in a row that revenues have fallen in California.

"We were significantly off," Mark Macarro, the chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, told The Los Angeles Times.

The decline in the last couple of years has been attributed to the recession. But report author Alan Meister said growth in California began to level off in 2005, partly due to increased demands on tribes made by the state through the Class III compacting process.

Nationally, tribal gaming revenues fell 1 percent, the first decline since 1998.

Get the Story:
California's Indian casinos slowly recovering from recession (The Los Angeles Times 3/3)
Tribal gaming revenues slip, rebound predicted (The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat 3/3)
Revenue falls at Indian casinos, especially in California (The San Francisco Chronicle 3/3)
REGION: Tribal casino revenue dipped in 2009, report says (The North County Times 3/3)
A snapshot of Indian gaming in California (The Capitol Weekly 3/3)
Indian casino revenue slides 1 percent in 2009 (The Las Vegas Review-Journal 3/3)

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Indian Gaming Industry Report cites dip in tribal casino revenue (3/2)