For those of us who’ve spent any time in Native American gaming, the annual Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention, better known as “IGA,” is a godsend.
Yes, it’s a mid-year check-in on technology, trends, and vendors. But more importantly, it’s one of the few places where non-Native operators working in Indian casinos can gain a real understanding of the culture, priorities, and realities of tribal ownership. And that’s something too many in our industry often overlook.
Concepts like sovereignty, Indian law, tribal politics, and regulatory structure aren’t just background noise – they shape decision-making at every level. If you want to better understand your ownership and your environment, there’s no better classroom than IGA.
The acronym “IGA” actually stands for the Indian Gaming Association. It used to be called NIGA, but they had to drop the prefix “National” and the “N” from their name a few years back because some fool mispronounced the group and show as the “N-Word.”
The organization was formed for lobbying and informational purposes in 1986 by tribes in the emerging bingo/casino business. But when most folks hear the word IGA today, they think of this show.
It began 32 years ago and rotated between San Diego, Albuquerque and Phoenix. Today, San Diego (like it was this year) is the preferred home base. However, due to high demand and limited space at their beautiful bayside convention center, next year’s show will have to relocate to Las Vegas and their convention center. It is back to San Diego for 2028 and 2030, and TBD at either Las Vegas or San Diego in 2029.
If you are working in commercial (non-Native) gaming, you might assume it’s not for you. That feeling is understandable. If you read their marketing materials (including the 2026 ads), they certainly aren’t aiming it at you: “IGA has established itself not only as the premier event for the Indian Gaming Industry standing as the driving force behind Native American success. The largest gathering of tribal leaders and casino executives in the country, the Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention is both the meeting place where the community gathers to learn, network and exchange industry-specific ideas and a cultural celebration of success, strength and self-reliance.”
Victor Rocha, who sets the agenda for the seminars at IGA said, “This is an event created by Native Americans where we share ideas and come together around common goals. It is unique in that way and very important to all tribal members.”
However, I’ve known and worked with Victor for years. While he is certainly one of the most passionate advocates for tribal interests, he is also a reporter, educator, cheerleader, rock n’ roll guitarist, family man and many other things. Just like IGA, there’s a lot more to him and this show to appreciate than just tribal traits.
Accordingly, only 30% to 40% of the conference seminars are focused on Native American issues. The majority target casino operators whether they are based in Nevada, New Jersey, Nebraska or on the Rez. And many of those “Native American panels” (like “Fighting prediction and sweepstakes markets”) apply to us all.
Let’s talk about what really matters: the tradeshow. Every major vendor is here. The difference? Scale.
IGA draws around 7,000 attendees. Compare that to the 25,000+ mosh pit at G2E, and you immediately feel the difference. Smaller booths. Smaller crowds. Bigger conversations.
Thankfully (unlike G2E), not one of the booths this year required identification, passports or a retina scan to enter. There wasn’t a single booth with perimeter walls, barbed wire barriers, or overzealous ID checkers.
That’s because IGA isn’t generally a “big reveal” show. You won’t see a flood of brand-new titles or flashy “coming soon” concepts designed to impress Wall Street analysts. That crowd isn’t here, and frankly, that’s a good thing. What you will see are games that are new, tested, and ready to perform (some vendors, like Light & Wonder, did show some new titles, but there weren’t many). It was less vaporware, more reality.
Another small negative is what you won’t see. The Interblock ETG team did not bring any of their upcoming “Amuze” games like Marble Run or their gamified roulettes. Likewise, Zitro, which made an impressive splash with spectacular signs at G2E, left those displays behind in Las Vegas. All their new games came, just not the signs.
These seeming shortcomings, again, are not all bad. Looking behind the glitz and glamor to examine games and themes in closer detail can be valuable.
Finally, if you invest in travel to southern California, it is a good time to visit the many local Native American casinos. Yaamavá Resort & Casino in Highland, CA is ranked as the #2 slot casino nationwide (not a single Las Vegas property makes the Top 10). The even closer Pechanga Resort Casino is third on that U.S. list. Other than larger hotels and superstar residencies, those two operations match or exceed anything you’ll find anywhere.
You can also visit almost a score of other interesting casinos to get some great ideas: Morongo, Barona, Viejas, Sycuan, Pala, Valley View, Harrah’s Resort Southern California, Agua Caliente (3 locations), Augustine, Jamul, Soboba, Fantasy Springs, Spotlight 29, Cahuila and Casino Pauma. They are all within a two-hour or less drive of the convention center.
What’s not to like at IGA? I love visiting San Diego, but it can be expensive. Every year there seems to be multiple events in town that boost citywide hotel, transportation, and F&B prices. This year there was a large educational conference next door, the San Francisco Giants were in town for a hometown series against the Padres, spring break was underway, and Easter arrived on the weekend.
Many others think “one show a year is enough.” But I’m a proponent of “the more you know…the better you’ll become.” I strongly believe IGA is a great venue to learn more. “Twice a year” in that context is an improvement.
Certainly, there is no matching the networking at G2E (everybody is there!). You should definitely require all your gaming freshmen to attend, as they will be blown away by the scope and scale of our industry. But the conversations and relationships you can make at IGA in its more intimate environment are often longer lasting and more meaningful.
If your travel budget permits, don’t skip IGA next year (even if it means you’ll miss out on San Diego). It’s two weeks later at the Las Vegas Convention Center from April 19-22 (that also distances it further from Easter).
Hope to see you there.
Late Notes from the IGA Floor:
- Finally! IGA organizers printed attendees’ names on both sides of the badges. Murphy’s Law states that all show badges always flip to the backside, forcing you to pretend you remember everyone’s name. This was a simple, but brilliant solution (G2E, take note).
- Quick Custom Intelligence (as they did at the 2025 G2E) won the award for the “Most Creative” (think “Bizarre”) after-party. QCI co-founder Andrew Cardno is originally from New Zealand, so it was no surprise that there were many entertainers dressed in original Māori outfits (despite chilly evening sea breezes).
However, it was harder to understand the QCI relationship to Irish folk bands, classical harp players, rock bands, saxophone jazz, wizards, Scottish kilts, blinking wrist bands, temporary tattoo booths, pirates, and mermaids. Maybe those last two connections were because the event was held on four different ships and all the docks of the San Diego Maritime Museum. For some strange reason, it all worked and was fun.
- I thought everyone was worrying too much about AI taking over their jobs, at least until I saw the new cocktail servers from the Yaamavá Resort & Casino (on second look, maybe they were Pit Bosses)???
- IGA is also a great place to learn who is still working, and where, since G2E last fall. A few of the changes were Hector Fernandez officially taking the helm at IGT, former Nevada governor Brian Sandoval named chairman of board of the embattled Resorts World Las Vegas, John Connelly stepping down and being replaced by Bala Ganesan as CEO of Interblock, and Deron Hunsberger returning to Konami becoming the VP of North American Sales. On the negative side, IGT chopped 700 team members just a week before the show began. Many attendees visited the IGT booth to see their games, but also to discover who survived.
- I’m sure others have similar stories, but personally I was disheartened to learn that IGT video poker specialist Sal Lambert was cut. I know of no one who has more passion for video poker. When Sal called to share the news, he was upbeat, noting that he was just a year from retirement anyway and expecting a decent severance package (26 years). A very sincere thank you Sal for all the advice and encouragement you’ve shared with me and so many of us over the years.
- The entire first day of the conference (Monday) was dedicated to stopping prediction sports betting. Therefore, it seemed ironic that one of the two IGA Platinum sponsors was the “Sports Betting Alliance.” Draft Kings and FanDuel (the two major players in the SB Alliance) recently dropped out of the AGA so they could get into prediction markets. Embarrassed Native American show officials said it was too late to drop their sponsorship.
- Generally, the first day of seminars are poorly attended since they are held two days before the trade show opening (Monday and Wednesday, respectively). But IGA organizers offered a free box lunch for everyone who made these sessions. Nice touch.
Terminal One at the San Diego airport
- The new Terminal One at the San Diego airport (SAN) opened last September and therefore was a pleasant surprise to regular IGA attendees. It had been under construction since 2021 with a $3.8 billion budget. Southwest, Spirit, Frontier, and Jet Blue airlines, along with several others, use the new gates. The entire place is bright and beautiful. There’s even a new restaurant inside run by local skateboarder Tony Hawk (who knew he could cook)?
- Why do streetlight poles need to be dull, boring, and straight? Check out these light stands located a few blocks from the San Diego piers:
- Finally, thanks to the entire CDC Gaming team in San Diego who kept us all informed about the IGA events and seminars that we may have missed. Great job, my friends.
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