The 2 percent semi-annual payment that the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, owner/operator of the Soaring Eagle Casino, makes to local governments is 14 percent less than what it was a year ago, the Morning Sun reported this morning. Add to that a 9.4 percent drop from 2006 to 2007.
It’s a sign of tough of economic times. A consequence of record high gas prices, which have impacted just about everything people purchase, and a national economic slump, fewer are putting their dollars on the line at casinos. From Las Vegas to Atlantic City to the Gulf Coast to Indian reservations, they are all feeling the pinch.
In Mississippi, casino revenues dropped 19.4 percent from March to April. In Louisiana, revenues fell 7.2 percent. In 2007, Atlantic City casinos saw their revenues decrease for the first time ever, falling 5.7 percent. In the first quarter of 2008, it dropped 6.4 percent. The new casino smoking ban will not help at all as the year progresses. In Nevada, gaming revenues dropped 5 percent in January, and are still dropping.
In Indian Country, the impact has been just as harsh. Many tribal casinos across the country are feeling the squeeze, or soon will. The Mohegan Sun Gaming Authority, for instance, was hit with a double-digit drop in earnings in the first quarter of 2008. Foxwoods’ slot revenue fell 7 percent. In addition to the slow economy, Connecticut tribes are feeling the effects of increased competition to the north.
