Indian gaming is trying to move into the cities
Not too many years ago, Indian gaming in California consisted of high-stakes bingo parlors and low-priced buffets. It was enough to encourage people to drive to rural communities like Friant, Lemoore, Jackson and Jamestown for their gambling fix. Still, the Nevada casinos barely acknowledged the existence of these tribal operations.
Now casinos operators in Las Vegas and Reno see Indian gaming as a huge threat _ so much so that they are now partnering with tribes to build mega-casinos across the Golden State. The Nevada casinos certainly weren’t going to see gambling flourish in California and not have a big piece of it.
To Californians, this gambling transition came in a flash _ from bingo in what were essentially warehouses to full-blown gambling in glitzy casinos.
California voters opened the door by passing initiatives in 1998 and 2000 that expanded Indian gaming. Legal rulings favoring gambling tribes also helped.
Once the legal climate changed, the casino rush came quickly. This is a gambling state and there were few critics as long as the tribal casinos were in rural areas. But only the naive could think gambling would be contained to out-of-the-way places. There’s just too much money in it.
Now we are on the verge of the next big political battle over Indian gaming, and the results could determine the future of the enterprise in California. The question is fundamental: Why not build Indian casinos in urban areas closer to the gamblers that frequent them?
A tribe tried to push a casino into a heavily populated part of the San Francisco area. Another casino is being considered in Orange County not far from Disneyland.
The San Joaquin Valley is facing this issue, too. There’s a casino and hotel proposed for Highway 99 in Madera County. If approved, that area would quickly become urban and congested because it would sit on the Valley’s main highway.
With all the money at stake, the old rules about Indian gaming don’t seem to apply. Build them anywhere, and let the cash roll in.
