This year the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) focused on critically important policy issues: • Sports Betting: Supreme Court’s Murphy Decision • Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act • Protect and Restore Indian Lands • Attacks on Tribal Sovereignty IGRA Milestone: 30 Years Strong October 16, 2018 marked the thirty-year anniversary of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. NIGA participated in a commemorative celebration hosted by the National Indian Gaming Commission. While Native Nations established contemporary Indian gaming more than a decade prior to IGRA, the milestone offered an opportunity for reflection on our industry. In thirty years, Indian gaming operations have responsibly grown into a $32.4 billion industry. First and foremost, Indian gaming is an exercise of tribal government self-determination. Revenues generated from Indian gaming continue to rebuild more than 240 Native communities throughout Indian Country. Many Indian gaming operations represent the foundation of tribal government economies that are diversifying into non-gaming enterprises and encouraging a new generation of Native entrepreneurs. Indian gaming is job creation, seamless, comprehensive regulation, and giving back to our brother and sister tribal governments and our neighbors. But most of all, Indian gaming is about our future: education of our Native youth, fueled by Indian gaming, is providing a path forward for the next seven generations. We all know that more must be done. Far too many tribal communities continue to suffer the devastating impacts of the past failed federal policies. We recognize that there is so much more to do and that has to be our priority. Working together, we will build on the energy you all bring to this Convention and continue our work with Congress and the Administration to strengthen our Industry, protect and preserve tribal sovereignty, and expand the benefits of Indian gaming to all of Indian Country. Sports Betting: PASPA Ruled Unconstitutional On May 13, 2018—less than one month after NIGA’s 2018 Annual Meeting—the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in NCAA v. Murphy, holding that the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is unconstitutional. Importantly for Indian Country, the Court ruled the entire text of PASPA unconstitutional: “[N]o provision of PASPA is severable from the provision directly at issue in these cases….” The entire law was voided—including several references to Indian tribes and IGRA within the Act. As a result, state governments have started debates to determine whether to legalize sports betting within their borders and several tribal governments have made the decision to add sports betting as an offering to their existing operations pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). Many other tribal governments continue to examine the potential opportunities and challenges posed by legal sports betting, including economic and business aspects, potential regulatory structure needed to maintain the integrity of the games and the need for responsible sports gambling. NIGA offered a series of opportunities for our Tribes to learn more about Sports Betting at our Mid-Year Conference and throughout the year. While no bill has been introduced in the 116th Congress to regulate or provide oversight of sports betting, many observers expect the sports betting debate to turn to Congress at some point in the near future. To prepare for the coming debate, NIGA established our Sports Betting Task Force in 2017 to share information and best practices with our Member Tribes. The Task Force developed and NIGA’s Member Tribes adopted a Sports Betting
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