Indian gaming’s economic impact

There are three Indian-gaming casinos within 25 miles of Chico, another (Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria) planned and yet another proposed (by Oroville-based Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians). A new report analyzing Indian gaming’s financial impact sheds light on this growing industry that now generates 41 percent of casino gaming revenue in the United States. Some stats from the report:

Number of states with Indian gaming: 28
Nationwide number of gaming facilities: 425
Total gaming revenues generated in 2007: $26.5 billion
Percentage increase in revenues from 2006: 5
Number of jobs in Indian-gaming facilities: 346,000
Total Indian-gaming payroll in 2007: $12 billion
Indian-gaming payments to governments in 2007: $1.3 billion
Number of Indian-gaming facilities in California: 60
Total California Indian-gaming revenues in 2007: $7.8 billion
Rank of California Indian-gaming revenues among states: 1
Number of Indian-gaming machines in California: 66,111
Number of Indian-gaming tables in California: 2,066
Number of recent expansions of gaming facilities: 7

Source: Casino City’s Indian Gaming Report, by Alan Meister, Ph.D., an economist with Analysis Group. For more info, go to www.CasinoCityPress.com.