By Clifton Adcock/Tulsa World Staff Writer ~ After facing staggering declines at its Tulsa casino, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation is seeing signs of a turnaround in gaming, according to the tribe's chief.
Other tribes also have seen revenues slide, although the gaming industry in Oklahoma has largely fared better than it has in other states, tribal officials said.
Creek Principal Chief A.D. Ellis told the tribe's National Council in early February that revenue from the River Spirit Casino in Tulsa dropped by 61 percent from the first quarter of the 2009 fiscal year to the first quarter of this fiscal year, or from $13.6 million to $5.2 million. The tribe's fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.
River Spirit boasts the second-largest gaming floor in the state.
Total profit from all of the tribe's casinos was about $83.5 million last year, but the tribe was estimating a $44 million profit this year — a 47 percent reduction, Ellis said.
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100326_11_A1_Patric460129.
Other tribes also have seen revenues slide, although the gaming industry in Oklahoma has largely fared better than it has in other states, tribal officials said.
Creek Principal Chief A.D. Ellis told the tribe's National Council in early February that revenue from the River Spirit Casino in Tulsa dropped by 61 percent from the first quarter of the 2009 fiscal year to the first quarter of this fiscal year, or from $13.6 million to $5.2 million. The tribe's fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.
River Spirit boasts the second-largest gaming floor in the state.
Total profit from all of the tribe's casinos was about $83.5 million last year, but the tribe was estimating a $44 million profit this year — a 47 percent reduction, Ellis said.
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100326_11_A1_Patric460129.