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Indian Gaming Association chairman David Bean used a major tribal leadership gathering in Washington, D.C. to deliver a blunt warning: tribal gaming’s biggest threats right now are not new brick-and-mortar competitors, but the fast spread of illegal sweepstakes sites and sports prediction markets.
Bean opened the National Congress of American Indians Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, and tied the message to a leadership transition at IGA following the death of longtime chairman Ernie Stevens Jr.
Bean opens with Stevens legacy and a unity message
“I know I cannot fill those shoes,” Bean said. “There will never be another Ernie Stevens Jr.”
He told tribal leaders he is focused on continuity, not reinvention. “Our goal in traveling throughout Indian Country is to give assurance to our member tribes that the same team remains, the same mission remains, and we continue this work together.”
A $43.9B industry, and why Bean says it’s under pressure
Bean pointed to the scale of the tribal gaming economy and called it a proven driver of tribal government services. “Indian gaming remains the most successful economic development tool ever employed by tribal governments,” he said.
He referenced the National Indian Gaming Commission’s latest revenue reporting and cited $43.9 billion in tribal gaming revenue, describing it as up about $2 billion year over year. The NIGC’s official release put the record at $43.9 billion in FY 2024 gross gaming revenue, a $2.0 billion increase over FY 2023.
Sweepstakes and prediction markets take center stage
Bean said the most urgent threat is what he sees as gambling products escaping the usual tribal-state structure. He argued that sweepstakes-style offerings and prediction markets are growing quickly and reaching customers even where states or tribes have not authorized those products.
“Tribes and states are distinct sovereigns,” Bean said. “They should be deciding gambling public policy, not foreign companies exploiting loopholes in new technology.”
He also said more than 25 states are already taking enforcement action against illegal sweepstakes operations.
On prediction markets, Bean warned that platforms are trying to re-label gambling as a financial product under federal oversight. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said. “These are gambling products and the next step will be casino-style games, if we do not act.”
A call for Congress, not one-off state fights
Bean urged tribal leaders to coordinate advocacy through IGA and NCAI, including task force work and Capitol Hill meetings. His aim is a federal fix that would block sports wagering and casino-style betting through prediction markets by changing federal law.
He summed up the approach with a line from his Puyallup teachings: “We must move like a canoe society… we keep paddling together.”
Source: CDC Gaming
