CHAIRMAN’S REPORT ERNEST L. STEVENS, JR. Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
O ver the past two years, our industry has shown Convention this April in California, we have much to celebrate and new challenges and opportunities to address as we continue our work to protect Tribal Sovereignty and strengthen Native communities. From day one of this pandemic, Tribal Leaders nationwide approached the health and safety emergency with full focus on protecting the health and safety of Native communities and our visitors. Tribal Leaders coordinated with public health officials, Indian gaming regulators and operators, and public safety officials to impose the highest standards industry-wide to stop the spread of the virus. The success of Indian gaming through the worst of this pandemic is also a credit to the creativity and flexibility of so many experts on the ground who adjusted and readjusted operations to protect the health and safety of our people while also maintaining the highest quality gaming experience. And finally, we applaud the tireless work of the hundreds of thousands of Indian gaming employees who implemented these directives to keeping their facilities and visitors safe. remarkable perseverance and resiliency. As we prepare to gather for the 2022 Indian Gaming Tradeshow and Thanks to your work, Indian gaming operations far surpassed early projections. We limited the pandemic’s economic impacts in 2020, generating $28 billion in revenue for Tribal Governments. While we await final numbers for 2021, early reports indicate that Indian gaming revenues will likely surpass the record levels of 2019. The Tribal Government gaming industry’s comeback is a resounding affirmation of the safety-first approach taken by Tribal leadership nationwide. We expect even greater industry gains in
4 INDIAN GAMING - ANNUAL REPORT 2022
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