Session Title

Session 1-2-C: Tribal Discussions

Presentation Type

Event

Location

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Start Date

28-5-2019 11:00 AM

End Date

28-5-2019 12:25 PM

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Gaming and Casino Operations Management | Gaming Law | Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law | Political Science | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Public Law and Legal Theory | State and Local Government Law

Abstract

Abstract

Even before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision In Murphy v. NCAA (2018) permitting states to legalize sports wagering, the biggest brand-names in gaming worldwide were positioning themselves to capitalize on the fan base for America’s most recognizable sports leagues.

Sports wagering already is up and running in five states; analysts predict that more than half the states will legalize it within five years. Many will be among the 29 states that currently have casinos owned and operated by American Indian tribes in this $32.4 billion market segment.

There is no firm sense and little data pointing to how many of the 242 gaming tribes operating some 500 casinos will seek to open sports books, or on what basis they will make a decision. Yet the implications are critical to any tribal government responsible for the welfare of its people.

In this paper, we posit that a tribe should carefully evaluate three main barriers to entry into the sports betting market: legality and regulation; feasibility and profitability; and market and competition. We identify each barrier and address threshold strategies for overcoming it.

Our analysis is useful for tribes, states, or commercial operators considering whether to get in the game.

Impact

Full-scale legalized sports wagering at last is coming to the United States. In disrupted industries, first movers have the competitive advantage. Who will take the lead in a post-PASPA world: states, tribes, or commercial operators? How should tribes make the judgment whether to get in the game? And how will the prospects for sports betting impact the $32 billion Indian gaming industry? The answers to these questions are of critical significance in determining the relative successes and failures of the next major wave of legalized gaming in the U.S.

Keywords

Sports betting, PASPA, IGRA, Indian gaming, tribal casinos, American Indian

Author Bios

Short Bio

Steven Andrew Light, Ph.D. and Kathryn R.L. Rand, J.D. are Co-Directors of the Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law and Policy at the University of North Dakota (UND), the first university center dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of Indian gaming.

Rand is Floyd B. Sperry Professor and past Dean of the UND School of Law. Light is Professor of Political Science and past Interim Dean of the UND College of Business and Public Administration. They have authored some 50 publications exploring how tribal casinos have remade the legal, political, and regulatory landscape for gaming across the U.S. Their books include Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise, featured on C-SPAN’s Book TV.

Light and Rand have testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and serve on the Editorial Board of the Gaming Law Review. They have been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Indian Country Today.

Funding Sources

No external funding sources other than the University of North Dakota's ongoing support for our research in the form of our salaried faculty positions.

Competing Interests

None.

Comments

Looking forward to our fourth International! Thanks for your consideration!

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May 28th, 11:00 AM May 28th, 12:25 PM

SPORTS BETTING AND INDIAN GAMING: OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO MARKET ENTRY AND INTEGRATION OF SPORTS BOOKS INTO TRIBAL CASINOS

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Abstract

Even before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision In Murphy v. NCAA (2018) permitting states to legalize sports wagering, the biggest brand-names in gaming worldwide were positioning themselves to capitalize on the fan base for America’s most recognizable sports leagues.

Sports wagering already is up and running in five states; analysts predict that more than half the states will legalize it within five years. Many will be among the 29 states that currently have casinos owned and operated by American Indian tribes in this $32.4 billion market segment.

There is no firm sense and little data pointing to how many of the 242 gaming tribes operating some 500 casinos will seek to open sports books, or on what basis they will make a decision. Yet the implications are critical to any tribal government responsible for the welfare of its people.

In this paper, we posit that a tribe should carefully evaluate three main barriers to entry into the sports betting market: legality and regulation; feasibility and profitability; and market and competition. We identify each barrier and address threshold strategies for overcoming it.

Our analysis is useful for tribes, states, or commercial operators considering whether to get in the game.

Impact

Full-scale legalized sports wagering at last is coming to the United States. In disrupted industries, first movers have the competitive advantage. Who will take the lead in a post-PASPA world: states, tribes, or commercial operators? How should tribes make the judgment whether to get in the game? And how will the prospects for sports betting impact the $32 billion Indian gaming industry? The answers to these questions are of critical significance in determining the relative successes and failures of the next major wave of legalized gaming in the U.S.