North American tribal gaming interests have entered into a new treaty that’s designed to bring regulated internet gambling to players located on Indian territories.
The Tribal Internet Gaming Alliance (TIGA) will, essentially, act as an interstate gaming compact for Indian tribes across the United States.
As of this writing, only the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Council, a Chippewa band located in Wisconsin, has signed on to the treaty, though any federally recognized tribe in the US is eligible to join. According to a report in EGR Magazine, another 27 tribes across the country are interested in sharing liquidity and player pools via the compact.
Lac du Flambeau Tribal President Tom Maulson told EGR that signing on with TIGA was an easy sell saying:
We asked our Gaming Commission to do the homework on this, and they and our attorney found minimal risk in our moving forward. We want to be at the forefront of online gaming, and this is another step to advance that.
Because of their unique legal standing, tribal gaming interests are a big x-factor in the regulated American igaming market.
In the absence of Federal regulations, the tribes have a relatively free reign to offer whatever gambling products they want within their territories.
The big question now is whether tribal gaming’s combined forces will create enough liquidity to support profitable igaming ventures.