Profile of Indian Gaming

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided preliminary information on the Indian gaming industry. GAO noted that: (1) as of July 1996, 177 of the 557 officially recognized Indian tribes operated 240 gaming facilities; (2) 41 additional tribes had authorization to operate, but had not yet opened their gaming facilities; (3) the 85 tribes which filed 1994 and 1995 financial statements reported about $3.5 billion in total gaming revenues, but of their 110 facilities, the 6 largest accounted for 40 percent of the revenues; (4) casino and parimutuel facilities accounted for over 86 percent of all Indian gaming and total revenues and net income, but accounted for only about 16 percent of nationwide casino revenues; (5) these facilities transferred about $1.2 billion to 74 of the 85 tribes, but most of the tribes received $10 million or less; and (6) the Bureau of Indian Affairs authorized 34 of the 177 tribes to distribute portions of their net revenues directly to tribal members, and the portions ranged from 2 to 69 percent of transferred net revenues.