This week's headlines provided an interesting juxtaposition in the financial health of the Indian gaming industry.  Is any of this indicative of a new trend?

Bucking the trend of putting expansion and renovation projects on hold, the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona opened its $215 million Wild Horse Pass Hotel&Casino this week, replacing its Wild Horse Pass casino, which is now closed.  The largest casino hotel in the state, the Wild Horse Pass boasts a 10-story hotel with 242 rooms, a casino with over 1000 slots and 70 tables (as well as a nonsmoking section), five lounges and a nightclub, a 1400-seat showroom, and two restaurants and a food court.  LeeAnn Rimes and Jay Leno will headline at the showroom in November.  The new casino hotel will create 1300 jobs (over a third filled by tribal members).  The new Wild Horse Pass is owned and operated by the tribe.  The nearby Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa remains open.  Indian gaming revenues are down in Arizona, by over 9% from last year, but the tribe is optimistic in the long term.

On the other end of the snowbird circuit, in Minnesota, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is suing for the return of over $75 million from the city of Duluth.  The Band operates the Fond-du-Luth (cute!) Casino.  Back in 1994, when it opened the casino, the Band entered into an agreement with the city in which it promised to pay the city nearly 20% of its slot revenue for . . . well, that's what the suit is about.  The Band claims that the contract wrongly assumed that the city's approval was necessary for the tribe to open the casino.  It claims it hasn't gotten anything from the city to warrant revenue sharing.  (Of course, IGRA allows tribes to use gaming revenue to fund local government operations, which are treated differently under the law than revenue-sharing payments to the state . . . . )  But Duluth, which actually started the lawsuit after the Band stopped making payments to the city, says a deal is a deal.  The Band's counterclaim for the return of the $75 million it has made in payments to the city could actually bankrupt the city -- its projected operating budget for the coming year is, coincidentally, $75 million.  Duluth uses the payments from the Band to make road repairs and shore up its credit rating.  So why now with the dispute?  The contract is scheduled to be renegotiated this coming year . . . so maybe we're seeing a lot of posturing.

So, could the trend be that we're seeing the Indian gaming industry return to business as usual?