RubinBrown Gaming Stats 2013

WASHINGTON D.C. REGION

Since 2006, the Washington D.C. Region has seen the legalization and opening of full-scale commercial gaming facilities in Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and the expansion of gaming within Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, and Rhode Island. In response to New York’s legalization of video lottery terminals (functionally, slot machines) at racetracks, the Seneca Nation began withholding state revenue sharing payments in 2009. The New York Governor’s administration and the Seneca Nation have agreed on the membership of an arbitration panel and will continue to debate the legality of the revenue sharing payments in 2013. In Connecticut, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes continue to see an increase in both commercial and tribal competition. Increased tribal competition is expected from the Shinnecock Tribe in New York and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts. In June 2012, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2007 federal court decision prohibiting the Shinnecock Tribe from building a casino in Southampton. Prior to building a Class III casino, the tribe will have to go through the tribal-state gaming compact process. Around the same time, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe entered into a tribal-state gaming compact with the state of Massachusetts. Currently in Florida, tribes only compete against pari-mutuel facilities offering slot machines. However, legislators and lobbyists made a strong campaign in 2012 to expand commercial gaming to include destination resorts and casinos. The gaming expansion bill ultimately never made it out of the legislature, but requests for studies on the expansion of gaming have continued into 2013. In Louisiana and Mississippi, there are four tribes operating six casinos; however, the tribes continue to face strong competition from the riverboat gaming offered along the coast and Mississippi River. Meanwhile in Alabama, the Poarch Creek Indians operate three Class II facilities free of commercial competition; however, state officials continue to challenge the tribe’s sovereign rights under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (1988). While the Washington D.C. Region faces increased competition, expansion and renovation efforts continue. In early 2012, the Seminole Tribe completed a $150 million expansion of its Coconut Creek Casino, located north of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, located in western North Carolina, began offering poker and table games in June 2012. The Jena Band of Choctaw Indians began construction, in March 2012, on a Class II casino located in Grant Parish, Louisiana.

28 | 2013 Commercial & Tribal Gaming Stats