“ We ’ re getting into that phase of time where ( tribes are ) looking beyond the traditional casino and hospitality components of a program and saying , ‘ Hey , do we also want to be a major player in the traditional entertainment space , with concert venues , hosting major comedic acts ?’ That has always been a part of the story , but now , several tribes are thinking about making some marquee investments and building great venues for that outside of the core casino product .”
— Kit Szybala , Founding Partner and Managing Director , GMA Consulting
our surrounding businesses .” Not only that , but the real prize is the tribe ’ s new LLC , Morongo Transmission , an energy initiative that is a joint partnership with Southern California Edison .
“ We became the first tribe , not just in California but in the nation , to actually be able to collect the utility fees , the transmission fees for the lines that go across our homelands here ,” he notes . “ It was a landmark deal that really guaranteed some long-term revenue for our community members and our tribal citizens that will go beyond gaming . These partnerships — one ’ s 30 years , one ’ s 50 years — are guaranteed revenue that ’ s going to continue to support our government services that we provide our members .”
In addition to Morongo , Siva notes that other gaming tribes in the area have made similar non-gaming investments in recent years . Last June , Northern California ’ s Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians announced plans to build a state-of-the-art 20-megawatt-hour storage microgrid coupled with a 5-megawatt solar array , which represents one of the world ’ s largest zinc-based battery projects . The project received a healthy $ 32.75 million grant from the California Energy Commission ( CEC ), through its Long Duration Storage Program ( LDSP ) that incentivizes non-lithium energy developments .
Before that , in late 2022 , the CEC also awarded a $ 31 million grant to the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians through the LDSP for a 60- megawatt-hour long-duration battery storage facility near Alpine , California . And in early March of this year , the Viejas Band also received a conditional loan commitment of up to $ 72.8 million from the U . S . Department of Energy ’ s Loan Programs Office for the construction of the Viejas Microgrid project , a 15-megawatt photovoltaic solar generation system and an additional 38-megawatt-hour long-duration storage system .
Such projects serve to lessen costs of existing operations while providing steady streams of passive income , an enviable business model that analysts love to salivate over .
“ We ’ re seeing tribes start to pursue acquisition , ownership and management of those opportunities outside of their core market area , with industries that provide passive levels of income that are a bit more risk averse ,” explains Kit Szybala , founding partner and managing director of GMA Consulting .
Szybala notes that for tribes , the most ideal diversification opportunities are those that can be “ leveraged and potentially have an M & A opportunity ,” or in other words , “ something that they can improve upon , bundle up and sell .” In addition to energy , he also points to oil and gas , agriculture and storage as attractive avenues to suit these attributes — not exactly as attractive and flashy as gaming , but just as profitable .
Coincidentally , Siva and the Morongo Band are leading on this front as well — the tribe operates “ two of the largest travel centers in California ,” running a total of 80 pumps “ right off one of the busiest highways in California and in the country , the I-10 .”
It should also be noted that in literal terms , casino resorts are also world-class hospitality and entertainment venues which provide a bevy of high-level experience that can be applied to non-gaming hotels and other similar investment properties , especially in commercial jurisdictions with limited gaming opportunities .
“ We ’ re getting into that phase of time where ( tribes are ) looking beyond the traditional casino and hospitality components of a program and saying , ‘ Hey , do we also want to be a major player in the traditional entertainment space , with concert venues , hosting major comedic acts ?’ That has always been a part of the story , but now , several tribes are thinking about making some marquee investments and building great venues for that outside of the core casino product ,” Szybala notes .
Regardless of the venture , the humble mentality that has made tribes successful in gaming can always be applied to new opportunities — and of course , the extra cash reserves don ’ t hurt either .
“ I think the intention of tribes is always to do anything well , but also not to skip any steps ,” Siva says . “ We ’ re willing to make some mistakes along the way so that we can learn how to do things right . I think that kind of humble approach lends itself to any industry .”
Doubling Down and Laying Odds
Three-plus decades in land-based gaming have done well to build a foundation for tribal operators , but the industry has grown and evolved tremendously over that span , which presents new business opportunities , namely in iGaming and sports betting as gaming continues to expand .
According to Seth Young , fellow GMA founding partner and chief operating officer of FSG Digital , the onset of digital gaming and betting has become an interesting proposition in Indian Country , and “ you ’ re seeing tribes really start to consider the online gaming opportunity in a more serious way ” than ever before .
“ When tribes are making generational decisions , it ’ s a bit different than the quarter-by-quarter approach that a lot of the publicly traded companies have to take because of the nuance of the market ,” he adds . “ I think that ’ s fascinating because it helps inform different kinds of potential market structures that might govern the overarching regulation of online casino , online sports betting . But it is important that any tribe does understand online gaming as best as they can when gaming is the lifeblood of in-
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