Tribal casino revenues fall in Arizona

Out of the 28 states with tribal gambling, Arizona was one of the eight that experienced bad revenue results in 2016.

US.- According to the latest Casino City’s Indian Gaming Industry Report, Arizona was one of the eight states in the US with tribal gaming to see a revenue decline. While American Indian casinos saw a 3.9% increase in total gaming revenue on a national level, non-gambling revenue doubled that amount to 8.2% in 2016.

The state reached the US$1.9 billion mark in total gambling revenues in 2016, almost the same result than in 2015 but with the difference that non-gaming revenues increased from US$301 million to US$328 million.

The report includes nationwide and state statistics for the calendar year 2016, which is the most updated data available, as well as a directory of the 500 Indian gaming facilities that operated in the US during that year along with a list of 246 tribes and the facilities they own, Casino City Press reveals.

Alan Meister, the author of the report, said: “I can definitely tell you the economy was a big factor and not just in Arizona… but across the country. Income was down in 2016 versus 2015, and that is the main key driver of casino spending by patrons.”

“Over the past five years, the Arizona gaming revenue side has declined slightly this past year, it had two pretty flat years, but it had two decent years,” Meister said. “And if you look at the past five years in terms of non-gaming revenue, it’s very strong,”