Jake Robinson admits trends indicate casino players want digital gaming experiences. And until recently, the default position for tribal gaming operators has been to wait until jurisdictions allow igaming or sports betting, then take action.
“I think we’re seeing in real time that’s not enough,” says Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer for Bluestone Strategy Partners, and co-author of the white paper Tribal Sovereignty in the Digital Age: How Tribal Nations Can Lead the Next Era of American Gaming.
“I think having the discussion, and as long as tribes’ choice to participate or not is a strategic choice rather than a default one, then that’s the right path to be on.”
Written with Marcus Yoder, Managing Director of Gaming Technology at Innovation Capital and a consultant with Accelarus, Tribal Sovereignty in the Digital Age warns that tribal gaming is “being challenged and eroding in real time.” Tribes not only have to confront prediction markets and offshore operators but also acknowledge that igaming is important to a large segment of their players.
“I think it’s more of an associative threat,” Yoder says of the incursion of other forms of gambling. “Meaning, if the compact is threatened, then the sovereignty is threatened. … I think that’s the logic flow that tribes need to understand. I think most of them do. It’s just okay, what are you doing about it?”
Robinson says the default position in Indian country has been to double down and defend land-based operations. That strategy has been effective and is responsible for tribal gaming becoming the main driver of economic development in Indian country.
“From my perspective, it’s a good strategy. It’s an effective strategy, but it’s not a durable strategy,” Robinson says. “It can buy us another five years. It can buy us maybe another 20 years, but it’s not going to buy us 50 years.”
The authors insist that tribal operators should embrace online opportunities, even if their jurisdictions do not permit sports betting or igaming.
“You have this rapidly growing sports betting and digital gaming ecosystem, and unless you are in a tribe that is in a legal state and has a compact that allows it, there’s minimal participation,” Robinson says. “Even where there is, a lot of times that participation is dictated by what a major operator is going to let you do.”
There are options for tribes. Yoder says one is to invest in companies that are benefitting from igaming, “to participate in the revenue, the value that’s being created, in the online gaming space right now.”
The other is to create an online presence to take advantage of possible opportunities in their jurisdiction and be ready to enter online markets. Yoder points to the Seminole Nation, the Choctaw Nation, and the Muscogee Creek Nation as tribes who have developed online infrastructure that is poised to be expanded.
“They’re being very methodical about it, and they are going to create exactly the mobile gaming app that they want,” Yoder says. “And these tribes are, even though online gaming may not be legal in their states, being proactive about it. They’re going to be ready if and arguably when online gaming and sports books are legal.”
