tribal leadership mid-year agenda. This session provided updates from around Indian Country, including further discussions of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ sports betting operation. Moderated by Jason Giles, Executive Director of NIGA, and Valerie Spicer, founding partner of the Trilogy Group, the panelists included Steve Bodmer, General Counsel to the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Tauri Bigknife, Attorney General of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, and Kevin Quigley of Foley Quigley PLC. The issue of sports betting was also examined throughout workshop sessions and education tracks, as well as a member tribe specific panel. OnTuesday, September 25, workshop presentations included “Big Data: Analytics in Sports Betting & Gambling.” The discussion centered on the value of data in a sports betting context, and how casinos, especially tribal operations, can stand to benefit by utilizing data to understand and engage the large and growing segment of avid sports fans willing to wager on sports. Moderated by Solange Jacobs Randolph, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications at VizExplorer, panelists included Stasi Baran, PhD, Co-Founder & COO of Qube Data Science, Inc; Chris Dougan, CCO of Genius Sports; Stuart Kerr, Chief Data Scientist at Pechanga Resort & Casino; and Dr. Laila Mintas, Deputy President of Sportradar U.S. The “Mobile Gaming: Disruption or Innovation in Tribal Gaming” panel examined the split in thinking about how mobile gaming (sports betting and mobile on-premise) can bring innovation to or disrupt the flow of the casino floor. The panel included Melissa Blau, Director of iGaming Capital, Brett Calapp, Chief Social Gaming officer of Pala Interactive, Richard Carter, CEO of SB Tech, Charles Cohen, Vice President of Mobile PlaySpot and North America Sports Betting at IGT and Daniel Kustelski, Co- Founder and CEO of Chalkline Sports. The panel was moderated by Frank Pracukowsky, Director of iGaming Capital. Attendees also heard from a top-notch group of panelists who discussed the “The Business & Economics of Sports Books,” which examined the delicate business of running a successful sportsbook, how new technology is changing the game, and provided insights for tribal gaming operators. Gene Johnson, Vice President of Victor Strategies moderated the panel which included Joseph M. Asher, Chief Executive Office at William Hill, Kip Levin, President and COO of FanDuel Group and CEO of TVG and Vic Salerno, President of US Bookmaking. To close out the day’s focus on Sports Betting, NIGA presented an Industry Roundtable and the Business Opportunities in Sports Betting panel. This panel, brought together experts who discussed the rollout of sports betting across Indian Country, the role of in- play-betting, internet, and mobile channels, factors to consider when choosing an operator, tribal exclusivity provisions in tribal-state gaming compacts, and regulatory regimes for sports betting.The panel also examined how sports betting can draw new customers to Indian Country casinos and build a new customer experience. Moderated by Russell Witt, Director of Operations at Ainsworth Gaming
Mississippi Choctaw Chief Phyllis Anderson presented the afternoon keynote address, where she spoke about the aggressive timelines the tribe took to bring sports betting to the Timeout Lounge at the Pearl River Resort.
In her Keynote Address, Chief Anderson shared the aggressive timelines they took to bring their sportsbook to fruition. The process included adopting and gaining approval of an amended Class III ordinance, creating a sports betting division within their gaming commission, amending tribal regulations, bringing consultants to the team to provide expertise and initiating their vendor selection process. She went on to say that because of the need to quickly roll out the process, they were able to begin with a traditional in-person counter to accept wagers, and described plans to add on-premises mobile and kiosk wagering in the coming months. Of the Supreme Court ruling to overturn PASPA, Anderson said, “We saw this as an opportunity to pursue Sports Betting at a time of the year when football is key and in Mississippi people love to bet on their teams. It is a great accomplishment to become the first tribe to open an independently operated Sports Book.” She added, “It takes a bunch of people working together to make these things happen. We had to start from scratch and our team had a very sharp learning curve, but they delivered.” Anderson proudly spoke of the outstanding venue available to their gamers to enjoy as a prelude to presenting a brief video clip unveiling the introduction of their sports book at their Timeout Lounge located at the Pearl River Resort on the Tribe’s Reservation. The “Sports Betting in Indian Country” panel closed out the
7 | INDIAN GAMING UPDATE - SPRING EDITION 2018
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