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Bits and Pieces from Indian Country - April 2003
30 April 2003
By Ken Adams
Wisconsin's governor has quietly worked to increase income to
the state from Indian gaming. Before going public with his needs, unlike Grey
Davis, Governor Doyle negotiated a new compact. Opposition in the state legislature
twice tried to stop the process, but Doyle vetoed the legislation. The new
compact extended its life and is being called permanent, and allowed the tribes
a large variety of games and gave the state a larger percentage of the take.
Now Doyle has negotiated another seven compacts, bringing the total to nine.
Wisconsin will make more from Indian gaming than any other state, except Connecticut.
One more piece of good news for the Governor, the courts have given him a little
bit of additional control over non-reservation casino locations. All in all,
Wisconsin appears to have a certain and predictable relationship with Indian
casinos in the state.
7 More Tribes Sign Gaming Compacts. Gov. Jim Doyle and
leaders of seven tribes completed permanent gambling agreements Friday
that would abolish most limits on casinos - something state and tribal officials
say will mean $105 million in payments to the state over two years and various
tribal expansions. Steve Schultze, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
4-25-03
Governors Can Veto Casinos, Judge Rules. A federal judge
ruled Wednesday that state governors can veto off-reservation tribal casinos,
ending a lawsuit three Wisconsin tribes filed in 2001. …Under the federal
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the interior secretary can approve off-reservation
gambling if it's in the tribe's best interest. The law also says the agreement
of state governors must be obtained. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 4-25-03
Wisconsin's expected share of tribal casino revenue under
new gambling deals will exceed all but one other state's, at least in the
short run, a review of state-tribal gambling pacts shows. The estimated
$118 million Wisconsin could receive in casino "revenue-sharing"
payments in the next fiscal year would outstrip gambling revenue anticipated
in 21 of the 22 other states with formal gambling compacts, a review by
the Journal Sentinel found. Only Connecticut, on tap to get a whopping
$400 million from its two large tribal casinos in a market of 30 million people,
beats Wisconsin's fiscal 2003 casino payment total. Steve Schultze, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 4-17-03
The National Indian Gaming Association had their annual meeting
and trade show in April. There are some very hot issues; war in Iraq (the first
woman killed in Iraq was an enrolled tribal member); the negative press from
major publications, such as Time, The New York Times and Wall Street
Journal; the compact negotiations in California and Wisconsin and a number
of cases in the courts that will have an impact on the definitions and limits
of sovereignty. Under the circumstances it is not surprising that a war metaphor
was being loosely bandied about. The tribes are beginning a major public relations
campaign to publicize the benefits of Indian gaming to the non-Indian community.
"Make no mistake, my friends, we are at war. Our sovereignty
is under attack," Anthony Pico, chairman of
the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians in San Diego County, told the National
Indian Gaming Association meeting in Phoenix. "But this is not a war
of guns and bombs. It's a war of words. It's a war of perception, and it's
a war for truth," Pico said. …"Gaming has opened a door for Indian
nations," Pico said. Associated Press, Arizona Republic, 4-9-03
Indian Leaders Discuss Benefits, Opportunities, of Gambling.
Indian leaders discussed tribal gambling's benefits and how to promote them
Monday, acknowledging Indian gambling has encountered some opposition even
as it has grown to a $12.7 billion industry. "Indian gaming is working
for the entire nation…," Ernest L. Stevens Jr., chairman of the National
Indian Gaming Association, told the group's annual convention. "But we
have to make that clear." To that end tribal leaders heard a report
about a newly launched publicity campaign expected to raise $3 million to
$5 million to spread the word about the benefits of Indian gambling and attempt
to influence opinions among the public and elected officials. Erica Werner, Associated Press, San
Francisco Chronicle, 4-8-03
In California, the National Indian Gaming Association is not
the only one using fighting metaphors; the press finds them convenient also.
As the compact negotiations progress, it appears that there will be many adversarial
relationships revealed. Unions, the state gambling commission and some local
communities are making it clear that this will not be like Wisconsin.
Union, Tribes Clash Over Representation. Animosity between
the state's largest hospitality employees' union and gaming tribes boiled
to the surface Tuesday during an Assembly hearing called to explore casino
workers' need for government-funded health care. Pitting two of the Capitol's
strongest interest groups -- Indian gaming and labor -- the nearly three-hour
exchange underscored the stakes as unions try to organize thousands of workers
in the state's booming tribal casinos. It also comes as the state begins
to renegotiate gaming compacts with participating tribes. Jim
Miller, Press Enterprise, 4-2-03
Gambling Commission Adopts Regulations for Indian Casinos.
Against tribal opposition, California's gambling commission yesterday adopted
the first in what is expected to be a series of minimum operating standards
for the state's 51 Indian casinos. …For more than a year, the commission
has attempted to persuade tribes to approve a series of regulations that set
baselines… Tribes have rejected at least five other regulations proposed
by the commission. James
P. Sweeney, Copley News Service, San Diego Union Tribune, 4-24-03
Separate from the national public relations effort, some tribes
in California are responding to the public debate over the compacting with a
spin of their own.
A Southern California Indian tribe has launched a statewide
television commercial criticizing Gov. Gray Davis' bid to get more revenue
from tribes as negotiations begin over the agreements that govern Indian casinos.
"Thanks to the people of California, Indian gaming is making its contribution
to local communities….Now, some politicians in Sacramento want to take
that money and waste it on financial problems they've created."
Erica Werner, Associated Press, San Diego Union Tribune,
4-4-03
…tribe launched a second statewide television commercial Sunday
seeking to rally public support as talks with the state over slot machine
limits and tribal revenue get under way. …shows community figures including
a mayor, a fire chief and a coach talking about the benefits of Indian gambling.
"With the troubled economy and cutbacks, cities like ours are lucky
to have Indian gaming," says Mayor Ray Rucker of Highland, where
the casino is located. Erica Werner, Associated Press, San Diego Union Tribune, 4-14-03
Tribes in California are not the only ones that have resorted
to television advertising to make a point. In Minnesota, where the next level
of the 21st Century Indian wars is taking place, tribes are trying
to convince voters that tribes should be the only ones operating a casino.
To counteract the success in the House of legislation for
a state-sponsored casino, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe has begun airing television
advertisements emphasizing the contribution of Indian-owned casinos to the
economy of rural Minnesota. "A lot of people think Indian casinos
don't pay taxes," says one of the 30-second ads. "The truth is,
they pay more than $81 million in payroll taxes annually, millions in real
estate taxes, and millions more are collected from companies that do business
with casinos. "If Minnesota votes to allow non-Indian casinos in
the Twin Cities, it will hurt the rural community that Indian casinos help
to support," the ad continues. "It will hurt the state's ability
to generate tax revenues, and as a result, will hurt all Minnesota. Who wins
then?" David Phelps, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 4-23-03
The issue is important to the entire country. If this initiative
is successful, other states may try to follow Minnesota's lead. Minnesota may
become the first state to authorize a non-Indian casino to raise tax revenues.
The enabling legislation still winding its way through the state legislature
provides for a casino at Canterbury Park, if the tribes do not agree to a 6
percent tax on casino revenues. The intent of the legislation seems to be state
operated slot machines and not to tax the tribes. The location is between Minneapolis
and Mystic Lake, which puts the state in direct competition with Mystic Lake.
In Washington there are several bills in the making that would give the state
slots or allow non-Indian slot operations.
In one of the nail-biters of the legislative session, the
House gave narrow approval Friday to a state-sponsored casino at Canterbury
Park that would break tribal control of casino gambling in the state.
…The state's cut from slot machines at Canterbury would be a projected $100
million over two years. In a bit of maneuvering that may have made it easier
for some members to support it, the House approved an amendment that would
stop the racino effort if tribes agree to pay the state 6 percent of their
casino proceeds. It passed 77 to 54. David Phelps, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 4-26-03
Seventy percent of adult Minnesotans support establishing
a state-operated casino at the Canterbury Park racetrack in Shakopee,
according to a new public opinion poll commissioned by the track's owners.
Lobbyists for the track were using the poll results Wednesday to try to persuade
a handful of undecided lawmakers to support the casino proposal in a House
vote tentatively scheduled for today. Patrick
Sweeney, Pioneer Press, 4-25-03
Lawmakers and lobbyists are working on a yet-to-be-released
plan that would allow the state lottery to offer more than 18,000 electronic
gambling machines made to resemble slots in restaurants, bars and bowling
alleys across the state. That's much more of an expansion than the once-every-four-or-five-minute
keno game that the Democrats who control the state House detailed last week
as part of their budget proposal. Kenneth P. Vogel, Tacoma News Tribune, 4-22-03
It seems logical, at least to me, that this is the next step
in the expansion of gaming. The individual states, desperate for more revenue,
seek to be an operator. In some cases that may put them in competition with
Indian casinos. In others, as in the proposals in Illinois and Indiana, it
would put the state in competition with conventional casinos. In some way this
is the final move in the game. The first move took place in 1931 in Nevada;
the second move took place, unless you count the lottery movement beginning
in 1960s, in Atlantic City in 1976. There have been thousands of moves since,
and many still to come, but the time seems to be coming when casinos will be
everywhere; some operated by Indian tribes, others by corporations or by the
individual states. Some may be inside your house, living in your computer,
your television set or waiting in the telephone for you to press the right buttons.
By then, as northern Nevada is learning, the days of the large casino profits
and semi-monopolies will have passed into a distant memory.
Recent Articles
Best of Ken Adams

Ken Adams is the principal in the gaming consulting firm, Ken Adams and Associates. Formed in 1990, Ken Adams and Associates specializes in information, analysis, and strategic planning for Indian tribes, casino operations and gaming manufacturers. Ken spent over 20 years in the hotel-casino industry, prior to founding Ken Adams and Associates. He held the positions of: Director of Casino Operations, Casino Manager, and Keno Department Manager. During this time, he developed numerous innovative marketing and customer development programs and systems for evaluating casino performance. Some of those programs, such as slot clubs and tournaments, have become industry standards. Ken is also actively involved in gathering and disseminating information that is important to the gaming industry. He is editor and publisher of and the Adams' Report, a monthly newsletter specializing in identifying trends in casino gaming, regulation and manufacturing, the Adams Daily Report, an electronic newsletter that provides electronic links to the key gaming stories of the day, and the Adams Review, a special report distributed by Compton Dancer Consulting that provides editorial commentary on gaming trends.
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Ken Adams is the principal in the gaming consulting firm, Ken Adams and Associates. Formed in 1990, Ken Adams and Associates specializes in information, analysis, and strategic planning for Indian tribes, casino operations and gaming manufacturers.
Ken spent over 20 years in the hotel-casino industry, prior to founding Ken Adams and Associates. He held the positions of: Director of Casino Operations, Casino Manager, and Keno Department Manager. During this time, he developed numerous innovative marketing and customer development programs and systems for evaluating casino performance. Some of those programs, such as slot clubs and tournaments, have become industry standards.
Ken is also actively involved in gathering and disseminating information that is important to the gaming industry. He is editor and publisher of and the Adams' Report, a monthly newsletter specializing in identifying trends in casino gaming, regulation and manufacturing, the Adams Daily Report, an electronic newsletter that provides electronic links to the key gaming stories of the day, and the Adams Review, a special report distributed by Compton Dancer Consulting that provides editorial commentary on gaming trends.
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