Tribal casinos slim down in hard times
Money may be tight, but casinos are still making it. They just have to cut out some of the frills. Caitlan Carroll reports Indian casinos are slimming down on extras like spas, hotels and golf courses to cope.
Gamblers play on some of the slot machines at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
More on Entertainment
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: There's an annual gambling conference that starts in Phoenix today. The National Indian Gaming Associations wants to keep people coming to tribal casinos in the midst of the fallout. It's not easy -- some tribes are having to cut frills or find alternative means of income. Marketplace's Caitlan Carroll has more on the conference.
Caitlan Carroll: When money's tight, who's gambling?
Doug Elmets is a spokesman for California Indian casinos. He says a lot of folks, actually:
Doug Elmets: The reality of the situation is that most gaming casinos are still making an awful lot of money.
True, the $26 billion industry isn't living as high and wild as it once was. But the same number of people are walking through casino doors. They're just betting less. So to cope, Indian casinos are slimming down. Gone are the spas, hotels and golf courses added when times were flush.
Steve Light is co-director of the University of North Dakota's tribal gaming institute. He says tribes are spreading around their investments.
Steve Light: What a number of tribes have done in terms of industry, it ranges from things like making the Kevlar vests that our troops use in Iraq and Afghanistan to actually chocolatiers.
He says that doesn't mean Indian gaming is gone -- far from it. Tribes are just hedging their bets.
I'm Caitlan Carroll for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
04/13/2009
Wow. One spokesman represents all "California Indian Casinos"? Either the reporter doesn't understand how diverse Indian Gaming is, with most casinos having their own spokespeople to represent their particular perspective, or the "spokesman" oversold his title/position to the reporter.
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.