NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS 1849 C Street NW, Mail Stop #1621 Washington, DC 20240 Tel: 202.632.7003 Fax: 202.632.7066 WWW.NIGC.GOV

REGIONAL OFFICES Portland, OR; Sacramento, CA; Phoenix, AZ; St. Paul, MN; Tulsa, OK; Oklahoma City, OK

October 20, 2020 

Rodney Butler, Chairman 

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation 

2 Matt’s Path

P.O. Box 3060 

Mashantucket, CT 06338-3060 

Re: Strategic Gaming Agreement

Dear Chairman Butler:

 Thank you for your August 31, 2020 letter. You asked the National Indian Gaming 

Commission’s Office of General Counsel for an opinion whether the Indian Gaming Regulatory 

Act applies to the gaming activity contemplated in the Strategic Gaming Agreement. The 

Agreement will be executed by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Crown CT Gaming, 

LLC, a subsidiary of DraftKings, Inc. You provided a copy of the Agreement to the NIGC. 

 IGRA applies to gaming activity that occurs on Indian lands. IGRA does not apply to 

gaming activity that occurs off of Indian lands, and the NIGC has no jurisdiction over such 

activity. As such, to the extent that the activities conducted pursuant to the Agreement occur off 

of Indian lands, IGRA does not apply to those activities and the NIGC has no jurisdiction over 

them. 

 However, the Agreement contemplates that gaming activities could occur on Indian 

lands. For example, Section 7(a) states, 

(b) (4)



Letter to Chairman Butler

Re: Strategic Gaming Agreement

October 20, 2020 

Page 5 of 5 

 Third Party’s Right to Exercise Control over Gaming Activity:

 As stated above, the Nation can consult with DraftKings, but DraftKings retains decisionmaking authority for the sportsbook, marketing, and player incentives. DraftKings control over 

the online sportsbook weighs in favor of finding that the Agreement violates IGRA’s SPI 

requirement.

Upon review of these three criteria – term, compensation, and control – it is my opinion 

that if gaming activity occurs on the Nation’s Indian lands under the Agreement, then the 

Agreement violates IGRA’s requirement that the Tribe maintain the sole proprietary interest in 

its gaming operation.

Please note that it is my intent that this letter be released to the public through the 

NIGC’s website. If you have any objection to this disclosure, please provide a written statement 

explaining the grounds for the objection and highlighting the information that you believe should 

be withheld.23 If you object on the grounds that the information qualifies as confidential 

commercial information subject to withholding under Exemption Four of the Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA),24 please be advised that any withholding should be analyzed under the 

standard set forth in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media.

25 Any claim of 

confidentiality should also be supported with “a statement or certification by an officer or 

authorized representative of the submitter.”26 Please submit any written objection to 

FOIASubmitterReply@nigc.gov within thirty (30) days of the date of this letter. After this 

time elapses, the letter will be made public and objections will no longer be considered.27 If you 

need any additional guidance regarding potential grounds for withholding, please see the United 

States Department of Justice’s Guide to the Freedom of Information Act at 

https://www.justice.gov/oip/doj-guide-freedom-information-act-0. 

 If you have any questions, please contact NIGC Staff Attorney Steve Iverson at (202) 

632-7003 or by email at steven_iverson@nigc.gov. 

Sincerely, 

Michael Hoenig

General Counsel 

cc: Jody Cummings, General Counsel, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation 

 

23 See 25 C.F.R. § 517.7(c). 24 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4). 25 139 S. Ct. 2356 (2019). 26 See 25 C.F.R. § 517.7(d). 27 Id.