Oneida Nation shares fewer gaming revenues after non-Indian facilities open

Tuesday, May 30, 2017  

Are the warnings of the Oneida Nation coming true?

It's starting to look like the tribe might be right about the gaming market in upstate New York. According to The Rome Sentinel, the tribe took in fewer revenues in the first quarter of 2017 -- a period that coincides with the opening of three non-Indian facilities.

“We had anticipated a blip,” Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. told the paper, who is closely monitoring the situation but is not yet worried.

Under a settlement reached in 2013, the tribe shares 25 percent of slot machines revenues with the state. Of that amount, 25 percent goes to the county, which is home to the Turning Stone Resort Casino.

The county's share for the first quarter of 2017 was $3,544,418, The Sentinel reported. That's 7.4 percent less than the same time period in 2016, when the three rivals were not yet operating as casinos.

Two of the facilities are located on both sides of the tribe's zone of exclusivity, the paper noted. The third is a racetrack that added video gaming late last year.

The tribe also operates the Yellow Brick Road Casino, which is located in Madison County. A third facility, to be known as the Point Place Casino, is due to open in the spring of 2018 at a site in Madison County.

Read More on the Story:
County eyes ‘blip’ as casino payout dips (The Rome Sentinel 5/30)

Oneida Nation continues to expand casino empire with new facility (April 4, 2017)