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August 18, 2015
michigan-lottery-gun-lake-casino-revenue-sharingA native group in Michigan is refusing to share its casino revenue with the state because the Michigan Lottery decided to take its action online.
The Gun Lake Tribe, more formally known as the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, was due to make a $7m semi-annual revenue sharing payment to the state on June 1.
But the tribe, which operates the Station Casinos-managed Gun Lake Casino in Allegan County, withheld the payment based on its belief that the Lottery’s online site violates the gaming compact
the tribe negotiated with the state in 2007.
Michigan Lottery launched its online site in November 2014, offering not only traditional draw ticket sales but also online scratch tickets, which critics have likened to online slot machines.
The Lottery has estimated the online sales will total $480m over the site’s first eight years of operation.
The tribe’s withheld payment became public knowledge after the Michigan Economic Development Corp issued a statement warning that it was preparing to lay off an unidentified number of
its 300 staff members as a result of its funding shortfall.
In response, the Gun Lake tribal council issued a statement saying the subject of online lotteries had been discussed during its gaming compact negotiations with the state.
The council said both parties had agreed that the tribe’s commitment to share its casino revenue with the state would be nullified if the state “introduced internet lottery sales or expanded
other forms of electronic gaming to social clubs within the tribe’s market area.”
Section 15(c)(1) of the compact stipulates that, in the event the state authorizes the Lottery to operate Electronic Games of Chance, the tribe can reduce its revenue sharing payments by 50%.
The other 50% is supposed to still be paid in order to prevent the state from going whole-hog and permitting non-tribal casinos within the tribe’s designated competitive area.
The tribe said that since the Lottery site launched last November, the tribe technically wasn’t required to make its December 2014 revenue sharing payment.
The tribe said it had chosen to do so in the hope that the two parties could find a way to resolve the dispute.
SOURCE-FULL STORY
michigan-lottery-gun-lake-casino-revenue-sharingA native group in Michigan is refusing to share its casino revenue with the state because the Michigan Lottery decided to take its action online.
The Gun Lake Tribe, more formally known as the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, was due to make a $7m semi-annual revenue sharing payment to the state on June 1.
But the tribe, which operates the Station Casinos-managed Gun Lake Casino in Allegan County, withheld the payment based on its belief that the Lottery’s online site violates the gaming compact
the tribe negotiated with the state in 2007.
Michigan Lottery launched its online site in November 2014, offering not only traditional draw ticket sales but also online scratch tickets, which critics have likened to online slot machines.
The Lottery has estimated the online sales will total $480m over the site’s first eight years of operation.
The tribe’s withheld payment became public knowledge after the Michigan Economic Development Corp issued a statement warning that it was preparing to lay off an unidentified number of
its 300 staff members as a result of its funding shortfall.
In response, the Gun Lake tribal council issued a statement saying the subject of online lotteries had been discussed during its gaming compact negotiations with the state.
The council said both parties had agreed that the tribe’s commitment to share its casino revenue with the state would be nullified if the state “introduced internet lottery sales or expanded
other forms of electronic gaming to social clubs within the tribe’s market area.”
Section 15(c)(1) of the compact stipulates that, in the event the state authorizes the Lottery to operate Electronic Games of Chance, the tribe can reduce its revenue sharing payments by 50%.
The other 50% is supposed to still be paid in order to prevent the state from going whole-hog and permitting non-tribal casinos within the tribe’s designated competitive area.
The tribe said that since the Lottery site launched last November, the tribe technically wasn’t required to make its December 2014 revenue sharing payment.
The tribe said it had chosen to do so in the hope that the two parties could find a way to resolve the dispute.
SOURCE-FULL STORY
