E Sequoyah Simermeyer’s career has been marked by his work in the gambling industry, notably as a former chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission and now as a vice president of strategic partnerships at FanDuel beginning in February.
The latest undertaking for the member of the Coharie Indian Tribe of North Carolina has nothing to do with gambling. But as a board member of the Native American Hall of Fame it has everything to do with honoring the accomplishments of Native Americans over the last nearly two centuries.
And that, he told Gaming Today in an extended interview, is “quite an honor.”
“It’s a terrific organization that really looks to highlight some of the success of contemporary native leadership,” he said. “And so as a native person, as a native parent, as someone who respects it, has been inspired by so many of the leadership over the years, it’s great to be a part of supporting a really good mission.”
The hall currently honors 53, from mainstream-familiar sports luminaries like Jim Thorpe, to astronaut John Herrington numerous civil rights leaders. No gambling industry figures have yet been enshrined, underscoring Simermeyer’s credentials beyond the tribal casino sphere.
“It’s a really important thing to highlight the breadth and diversity of achievement leadership by native people,” Simermeyer said. “It covers a number of different categories and different disciplines and professions. So it’s, it’s a large group.”
From his upbringing in North Carolina, Simermeyer says he’s “grown up in service.”
“Supporting helping native people and being of service to tribal communities has always been important to me as an individual,” he said. “I’ve had the opportunity over the last few years to work in the area of federal Indian policy and law and work with a number of different tribes at the federal level with intertribal organizations that represent and advocate for strong tribal governments and the recognition of tribal sovereignty.
“Whether that’s been in my professional work or academic work or my personal work, as a native person, I think it’s a part of my career and life that I’ve been honored to be able to participate in.”
Simermeyer on Native Gambling Industry Topics
Tribal Power Increased in Recent Years
“If you look over the last 20-plus years, Indian gaming, from a revenue perspective has continued to grow with a few exceptions. The largest, most notable one was the impact of the pandemic on Indian gaming operations.
But even as recently as this last year, it continues to grow to record numbers. It’s been over $40 billion in revenue from the last year recorded.
I think that if you look back over the last 40 years of Indian gaming, since the nearly 40 years since the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, there’s been congressionally mandated objectives through that act that have really shaped how gaming has grown.
And some of those mandates have included strengthening tribal governments and regulatory capacity, as well as developing policies that are going to protect the gaming industry’s role as an economic development engine for much of Indian country and their neighbors.
Those objectives in tribal leadership have really been instrumental in helping to chart a sustainable plan, how Indian gaming’s going to move over the future as part of supporting stronger tribal governments.”
Importance of Seminole Tribe of Florida ‘Hub and Spoke’ Legal Win
“That specific decision, the attention that was being given to it really underscores the significance of what they’re doing there.
It really underscores the impact of sports betting and being a watershed moment more broadly across the gaming industry, it’s continued growth and how locally at each level it’s being looked at.
“It’s definitely a potential model.”
Is Hub and Spoke the Future of Tribal Gambling?
“I think it’s going to depend on the existing relationships between tribes and the state.
I think the recent decision underscored the importance of state law as well as the compact that the tribe negotiates with the state as being both elements that go into that kind of a decision.
“It’s going to be different among all the 29 different states where tribes operate Indian gaming operations on Indian land.”
Tribal Power Position Flexed in California
“Definitely, legalized sports betting in a marketplace like California is really going to rely on what sort of vision tribes are articulating in terms of the role they wanted to play in the states.
I think it’s important to understand that vision and to see opportunities to be good partners.”
The State of Play in California
“California is a big part of the Indian gaming industry. There are over 250 tribal governments that have gaming operations on their Indian land in 29 different states. So that’s a big part of it. But California is definitely a place where there’s been a strong presence for tribal governments in the gaming area.
The short time that I’ve been at FanDuel, I appreciate the efforts that are being made to become good partners where that’s possible and to recognize and understand the role of tribal governments in the decades-long industry that’s developed there in the state.”
When Will Sports Betting Be Legalized in California?
“I don’t know that I can predict.
“I know that it’s important for and will likely be tribes that’ll be a leading voice in how that is going to take place in the future.”
On Finding Consensus Among California Tribes
“Like other parts of Indian country, [it’s] very diverse in terms of not just Indian gaming, but across different tribal communities there. But in many ways, they had decades to develop strong coalitions amongst each other, and relationships that stretch back before Indian gaming.
So that’s why it’s important for those tribal voices to be heard and to be helping to guide next steps.”
Next Evolution of Tribal Gaming
“There’s a lot of diversity across Indian gaming in terms of the future path that’s been charted by leadership and by their enterprises in terms of how they want it to grow.
It’s going to be different within each tribal community.
But I think that overall, globally, the regulatory framework and the federal oversight framework that’s been in place for a number of years now presents opportunities for review of those policy objectives that tribal leadership have worked hard to defend to make sure they’re articulated, understood, what lawmakers meant.
Courts See IGRA as an Adaptable Document
“I mentioned before sort of watershed moments in Indian gaming, and we might say that technology innovation has always been a mark along the way.
Even going back to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act legislative history, there is recognition by lawmakers that technology, innovation and those types of technological aids are going to be part of how the industry grew.
That’s been in some cases a hard-fought point to make by tribal governments over the years, but an important part of the overall history of what lawmakers expected for the Indian gaming industry’s growth in the future.”
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