Native American Casino Owners Reflect on COVID Crisis and Share Strategies For Reopening
SEATTLE, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Troy Wyatt, founder of Seattle Entertainment Group, recently conducted a survey to understand how Native American casino owners are handling reopening during COVID-19. Troy contacted over 457 tribal chairmen-women and over 230 CEOs from native-owned casinos nationwide and compiled the most compelling results of his Native casino COVID-19 survey on his website. Below are some highlights:
- 6% of native-owned casinos are still closed
- 92% of casinos say they have the procedures in place to reopen safely
- 97% of casino owners surveyed said that the $8 billion in COVID relief funds is not enough to mitigate the economic impact caused by the crisis
- 3% of casinos are confident they can resume normal operations by the end of the year
On a normal day pre-COVID, there is a shortage of safe drinking water, healthy food, power, stores, and housing in remote tribal reservations. During COVID, those kinds of problems are amplified and cause a ripple effect. That very ripple could lead to a mass dissolution of the tribal governments who are in charge of governing their tribal-state(s). “It’s uncomfortable admitting your struggles, and failures or frailty to another person. I was honored to hear the empowered voices from tribal leadership across Indian Country and I’ll never forget what they’ve told me during the survey,” says Wyatt. Troy has heard stories his whole life from family and elders, but these stories were different according to Mr. Wyatt.
“When we share our stories, we have the powerful ability to inspire, motivate, and be challenged. It’s reassuring to see more and more tribes working together to share stories, product pricing, and collective ideas” proclaimed Mr. Wyatt. Meanwhile, casino CEOs and tribal leadership, admit they have been working overtime and then some. One thing is clear, casinos and tribal governments are all doing their absolute best to maintain a safe balance within their communities. The casino reopening strategies vary slightly from tribe to tribe, and sadly, not one solution fits all scenarios 100% of the time” stated Troy.
About Seattle Entertainment Group
Seattle Entertainment Group (SEG) is a Native Owned Entertainment Company in Washington State that works with tribal leadership, casino executives, booking agents, other talent buyers, and venue reps to reestablish entertainment programs post COVID-19.
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