The Indian Gaming Association has opened registration for its annual Tradeshow & Convention scheduled for March 30-April 2 in San Diego.
Next year’s convention at the San Diego Convention Center is moving into a bigger hall to accommodate the ongoing growth of the show that can attract more than 8,000 people. It’s the largest gathering in tribal gaming, bringing together leaders, operators, regulators, innovators, and advocates from across the country. The conference this year will honor the late IGA Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr. throughout the week.
The 2026 conference theme is “Innovate. Entertain. Inspire: The Future of Tribal Gaming Begins Here.”
Conference Chair Victor Rocha said tribal gaming is entering a new era shaped by innovation, technology, and hospitality. As digital technology changes the gaming experience, tribes are using it to modernize operations and elevate service and entertainment.
“This conference highlights how innovation drives excellence across the industry, from AI and data analytics to digital engagement, with tribal gaming setting the standard for the future of entertainment,” Rocha said. “We’ll be talking a lot about sports betting and the casino floor, artificial intelligence, and running a better business. Our mission for the 2026 Tradeshow & Convention is to explore the evolving landscape of tribal gaming and focus on the dynamic advancements shaping the future of the industry.”
The educational sessions haven’t been finalized and submissions are now open through the first week of January to help shape the agenda for the conference.
“We’re trying to help tribes move forward,” Rocha said. “Now, with sports betting and online gaming, it becomes more important that we create these great environments for our customers, not only for gaming, but entertainment. That’s what separates online gaming and terrestrial gaming – the entertainment and person factor.”
Rocha and IGA Executive Director Jason Giles hosted a webinar Thursday that featured Brian Sullivan, vice president of gaming U.S. for Clarion Events, and Don Wells, director of sales and attendee programs. Rocha said people enjoy coming to San Diego, especially those who have gone through a difficult winter.
“This is our ancestral and spiritual home and everybody loves it,” Rocha said of San Diego. “It’s my favorite venue. I love Las Vegas, but this is my favorite.”
The conference will be held in San Diego in 2026, before returning to Las Vegas in 2027 and going back to San Diego in 2028. The group is finalizing a deal to go to Las Vegas in 2029 before returning to San Diego in 2030.
“It’s going to be another good show,” Sullivan said. “It’s tracking ahead of last year. We’re going to play golf on Monday (March 30) and there’s one change. We used to do the chairman’s reception on Monday night. It’s going to be Tuesday night at the convention center on the major patio overlooking the harbor.”
Monday afternoon will feature sessions on prediction markets in a one-room-only setting. Tuesday is set aside for the full day of educational sessions and a chairman’s luncheon as well. The tradeshow opens on Wednesday and finishes Thursday. Giles said the schedule change allows board members to fly in on Monday rather than Sunday and attend the board meeting Monday night. It frees up time to enjoy San Diego with their vendors.
“We heard the complaints about trying to respect folks’ time a little bit more than if we’re going to keep you all day on a Tuesday in the membership meetings and two positions up for elections. Once that lets out, we’ll go right to the reception,” Giles said. “If you have nighttime receptions, this will give our vendors time to prepare for those. Chairman (David) Bean is very open to heading over to thanking associate members and getting down on the ground with them.”
Giles said the conference will be quicker to respond to recommendations from vendors and attendees. The tradeshow floor is the focus on Wednesday and Thursday rather than tribal business.
“In the future, we’ll switch this around a bit and there will be big things to come,” Giles said. “We’re going to start to do things differently. It’s all for the benefit of the vendors, to keep people coming back on that floor. Chairman Bean is open to new ideas and new ways of doing things and makes this tradeshow a big successful one.”
Giles said the DigitalPlay Summit will return to the showroom floor as well and could incorporate more vendors. “Consolidation in our industry hasn’t stopped, so we need to look at the whole gaming industry. If we have parking-valet folks come in and have a booth, we will do that.”
In the past Sullivan said the convention and tradeshow have been in the far south hall, but they’re now moving north in the facility with the educational sessions upstairs. “We had to move, because of the growth of the event over the last five years.”
Wells said that over the past two weeks, 2,000 square feet of tradeshow space have been reserved. He expects January to be busy, with a lot of space taken up. Sullivan added that more European operators and manufacturing are looking to attend the show and there will be a greater advertising push to bring in more tribal arts and craft booths to the show. “That has always been important to the show,” Rocha said.
The panel encouraged people to seek out their hotel reservations now to get the best rates and go to the conference website to prevent them from getting scammed by con artists.
https://www.indiangamingtradeshow.com/
