The landscape of casino gambling in Indiana is set to undergo a drastic change in the near future. This is due to the state’s first tribal casino opening in early 2018, and this has not made the state’s commercial operators happy. Indiana hosts ten riverboat casinos, which are located in Lake Michigan and on the Ohio River. These casino boats are not all that happy about the new kid on the block.
New Indiana Casino Won’t Have to Pay Tax
The first tribal casino in the state of Indiana is being opened by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. The new casino is set to open in early 2018, but this has caused quite a bit of upset among Indiana’s riverboat casinos. The reason for the upset is not just because of extra competition. In many ways, the riverboats have reason to be upset.
The issues come from the fact that the new casino will not have to pay the state any form of gambling taxes, which the other casinos believe will give them an advantage. The riverboat casino operators say that the Potawatomi are very good operators and would have been worthy rivals with a level playing field. However, without having to pay taxes, the playing field is anything but even.
Class-II License for new Tribal Indiana Casino
Thanks to not having to pay any gambling related taxes, the new casino in Indiana will be able to spend a lot more money on marketing campaigns and offer more free play promotions. In effect, this will allow the new casino to be far more aggressive when it comes to marketing.
The reason the new casino will not have to pay any taxes is because it opted to only get a Class-II license, instead of the Class-III. This means that it doesn’t need to share its revenue with the state or pay the 35% gambling tax. Despite the fact that it only has a Class-II license, and thus cannot offer proper slot machines or table games, it is still going to be the largest casino in the state of Indiana.
