Review of U.S. Tribes and Gambling: Tribal Casino and Sports Betting Monopolies
When the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2018 invalidated a federal law that had granted Nevada a near-monopoly on sports betting, any state that wanted to legalize it was welcome to do so.
Nearly 40 states have taken advantage of the opportunity, and in many cases tribal sovereign nations have been able to benefit economically.
The eagerness by states to authorize sportsbooks was reminiscent of a generation earlier, when various court rulings and changes to federal law clearly offered native Americans the option of opening gambling facilities.
The first site of any major significance was the opening of a high-stakes bingo parlor by the Seminole tribe in Hollywood, Florida. in 1979. Over the next decade, the location now known as Seminole Classic Casino Hollywood added slot machines, poker, and other live-dealer table games.
The establishment of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988 certified the right of tribes to regulate their choice of gaming activity on their land, as long as it was not specifically prohibited by federal or relevant laws.
That accelerated a national trend of construction of tribal casinos, with Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut - located on the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Reservation - expanding from initially opening as a bingo hall in 1986 into a full-fledged casino with table games in 1992. Foxwoods became the gold standard for tribal casino properties.
The Mohegan Sun in 1996 became Connecticut's second casino, with the two sites enabling the Nutmeg State to create a rivalry with Atlantic City, N.J. - which in 1978 was the location of the first legal casino outside of Nevada - competing for New York City-area discretionary consumer spending.
Which tribe has the most gaming revenue opportunity?
There are 36 U.S. states with federally-recognized tribes, and nearly as many scenarios for compacts that those state tribes have worked out with their state governments.
The Seminole Tribe in Florida not only was the pioneer in tribal gambling in general, it also has the most dominant sports betting partnership in the nation. The 2021 compact gave the Seminoles - who own and operate six of the seven tribal casinos in the state - the exclusive right to run a sportsbook via its partnership with Hard Rock International.
Most importantly, the compact clarified that any mobile sports wagers made in the state would be deemed as having been completed via servers located on tribal land.
In most states, more than 90% of bets are made online rather than at brick-and-mortar casinos, so that clause - plus their exclusivity - is almost unimaginably lucrative.
In fact, the state receives a minimum of $2.5 billion from the Seminoles over the first five years of the deal as part of this agreement. That figure underscores the magnitude of the power of having a sports betting monopoly in the country's third-largest state.
The revenue-sharing arrangement is not unique to Florida - Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Connecticut are among other states with such language in their compacts.
Related Articles
Other states where the tribes have a monopoly on casino gaming
The more than 100 federally-recognized tribes in California, the largest U.S. state, run all of the state's casinos.
The same is true in many other states, including Connecticut, Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Texas, which is No. 2 in population, only features three tribal casinos - none of which are anywhere near Dallas or Houston, the state's most highly-populated cities.
Then there are states with federally-recognized tribes, but no full-fledged casinos at all. These include Alabama, Alaska, Montana, Oregon, South Carolina, and Utah.
Finally, there are states with authorized tribes that only have commercial casinos, like Maine, Rhode Island, and South Dakota.
Almost all of the casinos in Nevada - the birthplace of U.S. legal, regulated gambling - are non-tribal, while Virginia has commercial sportsbooks that have partnerships with tribes in the state.
The more typical version is states authorizing both tribal and commercial casinos.
Examples include Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and New York.
States where tribes have monopolies on sports betting
Some states authorize sportsbooks - but only those run by tribes. These include Maine (as of mid-2026), New Mexico (in-person betting only), North Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, some states such as New Mexico, North Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin have compacts that have the state's tribes operate both forms of gambling.
California has been a prime focus of efforts to legalize sports betting – unsurprising, given its massive population. But in 2022, a ballot question, titled the "Legalize Sports Betting and Revenue for Homelessness Prevention Fund” - clearly titled in such a way to possibly sway some casual voters - failed miserably.
More than 82% of state residents voted "No" on the referendum. While a "Yes" vote would have allowed sportsbook industry giants such as FanDuel or Caesars to partner with tribes, dozens of the state's most influential tribes declared their opposition.
That landslide vote strongly suggests that any eventual legalization of sports betting in the state will be driven by the tribes themselves.
The tribes in Texas have far less political influence, however, making it less likely that they would be in charge of language in bills to legalize sports betting there.
The states with federally-recognized tribes but no casinos nor any sportsbooks are Alabama, South Carolina, and Utah.
Hawaii has no recognized tribes, no casinos, no sports betting, and – like Utah – no state lottery.
Connecticut’s two tribes have sportsbooks, as does the state’s lottery commission.
