WASHINGTON — Indian gambling revenues in Wisconsin rose 7.5 percent to just less than $1.1 billion last year, according to a new report.

That’s somewhat slower than the 12 percent national increase to $16.2 billion that occurred as more tribal casinos sprouted in California and slot machines were added in New York and Arizona.

Wisconsin was among only five states that raked in more than $1 billion from Indian casinos, according to the Analysis Group, an economic consulting company in Los Angeles. The other four: California, $4.2 billion; Connecticut, $2 billion; Minnesota, $1.4 billion; and Arizona, $1.2 billion.

Gamblers are heading to Indian casinos because they’re often a relatively short drive away for most Americans, said Alan Meister, the economist who wrote the report. Also, many Indian casinos have become more upscale by offering concerts, shopping and other entertainment.

“They create a great alternative” to Las Vegas, Meister said. “Their growth is a little less than last year, but it’s still growing strong.”

New York saw the biggest percentage increase, 116 percent, after Seneca Niagara Casino opened in upstate New York.

Wisconsin gaming grew last year through internal expansion among the state’s 11 tribes that operate 22 gaming centers around the state. They added 1,134 new slot machines, a 7.5 percent increase, and 28 more table games, an increase of 10.7 percent.

Similar growth in gambling occurred when the riverboat casinos opened in the Midwest in the 1990s, said William Eadington, a gambling expert at the University of Nevada in Reno.

“It’s not just an Indian phenomenon. It’s a phenomenon of opening up casinos in new markets,” he said. “What you have in most markets is gaming revenues ramp up for the first three to five years and then level off.”

Gannett
NQR