What gives is that Oklahoma and Connecticut only have tribal casinos (as does California). The American Gaming Association does not track revenue and employment data for Indian gaming, as it is a lobbying group for private industry.
Someone who follows the subject is Dr. Alan Meister. He pens the Indian Gaming Industry Report for Casino City Press. It's proprietary data that'll set you back $399. However, we rang up Prof. Meister and even he found your question to be a tough one.
"I don’t know of any numbers that are cumulative," he began. Mister said he's heard some scattered figures of job losses in California but thinks there are too many tribes from which to collate information – and not all of them will disclose such data (it's not required by law). Much the same holds true of Oklahoma, although the tribal-casino industry there has been on an upswing and Meister doesn't think employment has shrunk.
Last August, a wire-service story reported that Mohegan Sun, in Connecticut, had eliminated 500 jobs, while rival Foxwoods Resort Casino had cut 800. Given the financial struggles being experienced by both tribes – with Foxwoods' owners having become insolvent – it's highly unlikely that staffing at either casino has rebounded in the 10 months since.
