The Indian Gaming Association Tradeshow & Convention wrapped up on Thursday in Anaheim, surpassing attendance figures from its 2022 event in the same city but falling short of last year’s record-setting turnout in San Diego.
Preliminary estimates indicate that this year’s event drew a crowd of 7,400 attendees, exceeding the 6,500 who participated in the Anaheim show two years ago but trailing behind the impressive gathering of 9,000 in San Diego in 2023. The event also attracted 7,000 attendees in Las Vegas in July 2021.
Conference Chairman Victor Rocha expressed satisfaction with the event’s success, highlighting the packed educational sessions, particularly those focused on artificial intelligence (AI) on Monday. Rocha emphasized the significance of returning to San Diego next year and Las Vegas in 2026.
The decision to hold the tradeshow in Anaheim was prompted by pandemic-related scheduling alterations, according to Rocha, as facilities were not available on the usual dates.
This year’s conference saw a shift in approach, with an increased emphasis on educational sessions on the tradeshow floor compared to previous editions. Additionally, the inaugural Digital Play Summit addressed topics such as sports betting and iGaming.
Key themes of the event included sports betting, online gaming, and artificial intelligence, Rocha noted, highlighting the industry’s ongoing evolution and the emergence of a new generation of tribal leaders.
Brendan Bussmann, managing partner of B Global and a moderator at several sessions, underscored the growth of the conference and its significance in showcasing the continued innovation within tribal gaming.
“Tribal leadership continues to look at new technology and new opportunities along the way and how to continue to evolve the industry as part of that. It’s important to bring everybody together and make sure it happens in a cohesive way,” Bussmann said, as reported by Pechanga.
Gene Johnson, executive vice president at Victor Strategies, identified shifts in California’s political landscape since 2022, particularly in the aftermath of battles over sports betting control.
In that year, state tribes battled with sports betting giants DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM on competing ballot measures for the control of sports betting in California. Both initiatives were defeated, but the conflict left hard feelings with the tribes over out-of-state interests encroaching on tribal sovereignty.
“It will be a very different referendum in 2026, more tribal friendly than what was going on in 2022. I don’t think you’ll have business-to-customer operations getting between the tribes and their customers in the casino business,” Johnson said.
Interest was high in the Department of Interior’s new rules for tribal compacts, which drew overflow crowds. Johnson highlighted the potential for these rules to provide tribes with equal standing with commercial online operators, citing developments in Florida as a precedent, where the tribe gets a monopoly on online sports betting off the reservation.
The tradeshow also saw increased participation from technology companies, with over 400 booths showcasing the latest innovations in the industry.