California Tribal Leaders Protective of Market
Thursday, October 21st, 2010California is a state that allows slot machine gambling to the tribally-owned casinos within the state. It was a long standing pact between gaming companies and the government that allows them to do this. Indian tribes fought for the right and have over the years built up a great market for themselves in California and other states. When the recession first started, it was difficult on them, like other businesses. The slots numbers fell drastically for about eighteen-months and that was enough to put them off course in terms of budgets. Many tribally-owned casino operators are now voicing their concerns. They, like the rest of the economy, have seen better days. It is first now that slots numbers are slowly showing a revival. That revival is slow in coming though—it isn’t a 180-turnaround that most gaming operators were hoping for. First now are gamers returning to their older ways of operating, but it seems that they are only getting their feet wet in terms of wagering again. They aren’t jumping in like it was anticipated.
California tribal leaders are also worried because of the changes coming into the market. With the rise in online gambling and the question of legalizing gambling, this could put them in a difficult position. The competition is already fierce and having an entirely new entrant of players could force their casinos to suffer financially for much longer. The gambling money that is coming in is being pushed thin enough, but with legalizing online companies and other land-based companies, that could change things considerably with the market. Indian-owned tribes are careful- they want to protect their own revenues, but understand that the market is growing and will most likely open up for more casinos to enter the market. Only time will tell what is going to happen with the issue. The problem though is that online casinos and land-based casinos offer the state huge tax revenue dollars to enjoy. California legislators know this and are faced with their own financial turmoil right now. The deficit for the state is huge and that is causing a lot of problems for legislators. They are looking to expansion of gambling to bring in the money needed to meet the budget for the coming years.

