HOLLYWOOD · The Seminole Tribe, which built a gaming empire without being able to offer craps, blackjack or even Las Vegas’style slot machines, has suddenly become a symbol of American Indian financial power and a blueprint for its future, Indian experts and financial analysts said.

The tribe’s purchase this week of the Hard Rock International and all of its memorabilia for $965 million highlights a growing trend of Indian tribes diversifying to become less dependent on gambling money. Although the Seminole deal dwarfs all previous Indian acquisitions, it is just the latest in a string of purchases by tribes across the country.

The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, operators of the world’s largest and most profitable single casino, bought a women’s professional basketball team, expanded its gaming operations to Pennsylvania and is involved in other business partnerships. Its main rival, the Mashantucket Pequot tribe in Ledyard, Conn., is negotiating to bring its Foxwoods Casino brand to downtown Philadelphia with a $560 million complex.

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