INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The opening of Indiana’s first tribal casino in South Bend poses additional problems for the state’s existing casinos that have seen big revenue drops amid growing out-of-state competition over the past decade.
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians is set to open the Four Winds South Bend casino on Tuesday, joining three other casinos it already operates nearby in southwestern Michigan.
Indiana’s 13 existing casinos paid about 27 percent in state and local taxes on their gambling profits last year, but the new tribal casino will face no state regulation or taxes.
Tribal chairman John Warren says its casinos benefit 5,000 Pokagon Band members with health care, housing and education programs and that the new casino will provide about 1,200 jobs for the South Bend community.
