California has the largest tribal gaming sector of any state, as measured by sales, according to a 2018 report from the American Gaming Association. 

Federally recognized tribes can offer gambling, like slot machines, lottery games and card games if they negotiate a tribal-state compact with the governor. Compacts flesh out details like how state regulators are allowed to inspect casinos and how much gaming revenue tribes share with the state of California or local governments. 

There are limitations on what tribes can spend gaming proceeds on, focused on the welfare of the tribe and its members, the operations of its government, economic development, charity, and local government agencies.

For the Cahuilla Band of Indians, a tribe in Southern California, their casino and hotel, combined with a gas station on their reservation, bring in about 75% of the tribal government’s budget, said Chairman Daniel Salgado. That goes to social services, like child dependency cases; the public works department, which just paved the reservation’s first road about a year and a half ago; the fire department, and more, said Salgado. Because the tribe has fewer than 350 gaming machines, it receives $1.1 million a year from the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund, which tribes with large gaming operations pay into for tribes with limited or no gaming, Salgado said. 

In 2016, tribal casinos in California supported 124,274 jobs and sold $19.96 billion worth of goods and services – including non-gambling sales like hotel rooms, drinks, and entertainment –  according to the American Gaming Association.