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The California governor, Gavin Newsom, is back in the news as it’s being claimed that he netted over $2 million from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (FIGR). According to two reports out of the Daily Mail and Washington Free Beacon, both conservative outlets, they are alleging that this donation was paramount to Newsom’s decisions around a rival casino.
It’s reported that the FIGR has donated over $2 million, split into two pots. $1.8 million went towards Newsom’s wife’s – Jennifer Siebel – nonprofit. Another $450,000 went to his two inaugurations. This would put the figure at $2.25 million from the tribe alone.
This is where things take a slightly ugly turn, as it appears that Newsom sided with the FIGR as the Koi Nation, another tribe based in California, began plans to open a new $700 million casino.
We’ve reported on the Koi Nation’s casino, planned to be built on 68 acres of land near Windsor. FIGR, which runs Graton Resort & Casino in Sonoma County, has pushed back on the casino under claims it was approved too quickly and that they have no claim to the land.
FIGR doesn’t believe Koi Nation has right to land
In 2024, Greg Sarris, the Tribal Chairman of FIGR, said:
“In fact, their customs as well as their language were and are totally different from those of the Southern Pomo, our ancestors. Their aboriginal lands, on which their rancheria was established, are fifty-nine (59) miles from the site they claim in Windsor and their historic territory.
“The Koi claim their ancestors had a history of trading with our ancestors, which may or may not have been true.”
Also in 2024, as the Daily Mail reports, Newsom opposed it and wrote to the US Department of the Interior in an attempt to block it. He also apparently pushed back on the Koi Nation’s claim to the land.
Tribe donations to Gavin Newsom not illegal
At the end of the day, it appears that FIGR is simply pushing back on the casino as it would hurt their business. Its donations appear to be no different from those of other political lobbying donations that run the backbone of sects of American politics. As officials have pointed out to The Daily Mail, it’s not illegal, but is possibly “shady”.
Daniel Schnur, former chairman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, told the Daily Mail:
“The scandal here isn’t what’s illegal, but rather what’s entirely legal.
“These types of behest payments represent a large enough loophole in the laws that you can drive a semi-trailer truck through them.”
It’s not currently backing the lawsuit against Kalshi and Robinhood for running sportsbooks in the state, as three other tribes are doing. These tribes are claiming that the prediction markets are essentially breaking the law by going against frameworks set up in the state.
Featured image: Wikicommons
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The Las Vegas Strip is seemingly set for a slower third quarter, according to the CEO of one of the Strip’s biggest operators.
During a recent earnings call for Caesars Entertainment, CEO Tom Reeg said that, despite a strong start to the second quarter, income started to slow down and is expected to remain that way into the third quarter.
This comes after the gaming and hospitality company reported a 3.7% year-on-year decrease in net revenue and over a 20% dip in net income, according to publicly available financial reports.
“Vegas started leaking as a market (at the) end of May,” said Reeg. “That leak accelerated into June. I’d expect the third quarter to be soft.”
Nonetheless, Caesars generated $1.054 billion of net revenue from Las Vegas for the three-month period ending in June, 2025 – but that was down from $1.095 billion during the same quarter the year before. That represents $212 million of net income in the second quarter, compared to $268 million last year – a loss of $46 million.
While this shows a worrying picture for the Strip, Reeg still had hope for a more lucrative future in Las Vegas.
“I’ve been around Vegas a very long time…(and) this is normal seasonality that we haven’t seen in a while here,” he said, as reported by Review Journal. “It’s nothing that leaves me concerned.”
The wider landscape on the Las Vegas Strip
Indeed, Vegas has been under pressure to get with the times, with changing revenue streams and expectations from customers, forcing operators to evolve in both their operations and services.
With the rise of online gambling, Las Vegas needs to be able to tempt people to visit the city and its in-person strip, even while similar services are available from the comfort and accessibility of computers and mobile apps.
ReadWrite has contacted Caesars Entertainment for comment.
Featured image: Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY 4.0
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