Explainer
What a Gaming Facility License Is and Why Every Casino Needs One
Before a single machine spins, every tribal gaming place must clear a licensing step that ties the casino to eligible Indian lands.
News, policy, and the complete directory of tribal casinos across the U.S. and Canada — a $41 billion industry, covered with the depth it deserves. From Seminole sports-betting compacts to Saskatchewan SIGA operations, we cover all 245+ tribal gaming operations.
Before a single machine spins, every tribal gaming place must clear a licensing step that ties the casino to eligible Indian lands.
The commission is testing the outer limits of its authority even as it operates with reduced leadership.
As tribal resorts grow more ambitious, more tribes are hiring the brands they once competed against to build and run them.
A land dispute at North Carolina's largest tribal casino project underscores how ground-lease relationships can outlast the partnerships that created them.
State attorneys general are now pressing the same event-contract fight tribes have carried in federal court all year.
Every federally recognized tribe operating a gaming facility in the United States, plus First Nations operators in Canada — verified, categorized by IGRA class, and searchable by state, nation, and property.
Operator of seven Hard Rock-branded properties in Florida and controlling interest in the global Hard Rock International brand. Holder of a 2021 federal compact granting exclusive statewide sports betting.
Operates WinStar World Casino & Resort — the largest casino in the world by gaming floor — plus 22 other gaming properties statewide.
Owner-operator of Foxwoods Resort Casino, long one of the largest integrated resort casinos in North America.
Operates Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula — the largest resort casino on the West Coast.
A nonprofit consortium of 74 First Nations operating seven casinos under provincial framework agreement.
Everything operators, regulators, journalists, and tribal leaders need to know about what is — and is not — permitted under IGRA, state compacts, and the Canadian Criminal Code. Updated quarterly. Reviewed by Indian-law attorneys.