When it comes to gaming and hospitality, location has always been a significant determinant of business success. Customers prefer the convenience of close proximity. Properties built near major urban centers and large populations will almost always produce far greater revenue than properties built in rural areas with smaller populations and lower average income levels. In simple terms, you have winners and losers in geography.
Tribal “brick-and-mortar” casino properties have been restricted to building within and upon a tribe’s historical trust land and further restricted by federal or state regulations and gaming compacts or agreements. Thus, many tribes located in rural areas have been forced to spend enormous financial resources on legal and political efforts in an attempt to either build or expand their gaming properties closer to an urban area or a high traffic highway. Unfortunately, a great number of those efforts have gone on for many years and at great cost to tribes, only to end in failure.
What happens when technology allows us to remove geography and distance, and any casino can bring a very similar gaming experience directly to a customer in their own homes with a digital gaming solution? This brings us to the main point of my article today and food for thought: Perhaps digital and online gaming platforms are the solution to historical trust lands based on geographical inequity? In my opinion, this is an important time for careful contemplation and strategic thinking by every tribe. Digital and online gaming solutions present not only a technological shift, but more importantly, a shift in geographical and overall market reach. This is a topic and subject that I have covered before, and that I believe deserves discussion and attention from tribes within each state and across the nation in finding a beneficial way forward where tribes work together toward a common beneficial goal. The revenues generated by digital gaming platforms and their share of the overall casino gaming market are likely to grow significantly in the coming years.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY MICHAEL DAY IN THE 2023 SUMMER EDITION OF GAMING & LEISURE MAGAZINE.