Casino operators in Nevada are once more claiming the gold country of California.

In Northern California, Red Rock Resorts is hoping to find success once more.

The business is working with local tribes who want a piece of the biggest Indian gaming state in the country to build and run casino-resorts alongside Boyd Gaming and Caesars Entertainment.

Red Rock is returning to the game after operating the Graton Resort & Casino in Santa Rosa from 2013 to 2021 and the Thunder Valley Casino outside Sacramento from 2003 to 2010. Last year, the business started building a tribal casino in Madera, which is 140 miles south of Sacramento and 30 miles north of Fresno.

In the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, Boyd runs a casino, while Caesars owns one tribal casino in rural Ione and is working on a second.

Will California tribal gaming continue to steal business from Northern Nevada’s two biggest gaming areas, Reno and Lake Tahoe? That is the concern raised by the current wave of tribal casino construction in Northern California.

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This issue is not new, as Northern Nevada was severely impacted by the emergence of California tribal casinos around the turn of the century. Reno’s yearly gaming income dropped by over 12 percent since 2000, to $758.9 million in 2024. South Tahoe saw $244 million last year, a 30 percent decline over the previous 24 years.

Reno’s departure from gaming should protect it from pressure from the California market, according to two seasoned gaming industry professionals with deep connections to Northern Nevada.

Former television journalist and slot machine manager and consultant Buddy Frank stated, “I don’t think the steady stream of recent and upcoming casino openings in the California market will have much of an impact on Reno resorts.” “The actual harm was done years ago when the profitable Bay Area markets were cut off by Thunder Valley and Cache Creek, which are 45 miles west of Sacramento.”

Ken Adams, a CDC Gaming Reports contributor and seasoned Reno gaming analyst, claimed that competition from tribal casinos hampered investment and growth in Reno casinos.

Adams stated that the successful attempts to diversify the local economy drove Reno in a different route, saying, “There isn’t any place in Reno for real investment in casinos, because there is no return.”

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