Despite their efforts to control their
futures, many tribes that own casinos have yet to develop the necessary
expertise to run them. Today they are reaching out to more-experienced tribes
for help. Members of successful gaming tribes act as paid consultants, helping
others win recognition from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to build and operate
casinos.
"When they started, most tribes didn’t have a clue about what
they were doing. Partners took advantage of them, and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs did a poor job of regulating these partners," says Robert Jarvis, a law
professor at Nova Southeastern University Law Center in Fort Lauderdale. In a
process that came to be dubbed "rent-a-tribe," casino developers partnered with
a tribe, helped it build a casino and then fleeced it out of profits. Even the
Seminoles claim they got a taste of this type of mismanagement. "We knew we
owned 51 percent of profits, we just didn’t know what the profits were," Max
Osceola, a tribal leader, says. But that changed quickly, he adds. "You only lie
to us once."
Foxwoods in Connecticut, owned by the Mashantucket Pequot
tribe, currently has development deals with two tribes, including one to build a
resort casino for the Pauma tribe just north of San Diego. Mohegan Sun, owned by
the Mohegan tribe in Connecticut, has at least two such deals with tribes on the
West Coast to develop their gaming operations and take a cut of the profits.
Even the Seminoles have considered doing something like this; tribes have
contacted them about opening Hard Rock casino franchises on their property.
"Because it’s another tribe, there’s a trust there. It’s not like trying to work
with Caesars Palace, people they don’t know," Osceola says. It’s becoming clear
that tribes want to work with other tribes rather than outside management
companies.
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