NIGC addressees New Mexico’s tribal gaming

The Chairman of the NIGC has addressed tribal regulators in New Mexico and met with the local gaming commission.

US.- The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) Chairman E. Sequoyah Simermeyer met with the New Mexico Association of Indian Gaming Commissions last week. This was one of his first public meetings since being commissioned to serve as the National Indian Gaming Commission’s Chairman.

The meeting took place at the Santa Ana Star Casino and Hotel, an Indian gaming operation north of Albuquerque, NM. The Santa Ana Star Casino was one of the first tribally regulated sports books to open following a May 2018 decision from the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Clear Agency guidance empowers tribal communities to regulate and develop Indian gaming in their own communities,” said Chairman Simermeyer. “Today’s Bulletin provides a new resource for tribes contemplating policy considerations related to the sound regulation of sports betting on Indian lands. It also underscores the NIGC’s role in the oversight of sports books on Indian lands as part of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’s framework.”

Simermeyer told the New Mexico Association of Indian Gaming Commissions: “It is the NIGC Commissioners’ responsibility to maintain this body of guidance in an informed and transparent manner. An advisory group can only aid the Commission in ensuring that its guidance remains relevant and continues to address the needs of a growing and sophisticated industry.” He added: “Vice Chair Isom-Clause and I are working on a process to stand up an advisory group and hope to offer more details in the coming weeks.”