ROCK HILL--Officials with the Catawba Bingo hall say steep competition from the South Carolina Education Lottery has forced them to stop operating during the week.

The business will be open only on Saturdays and Sundays, said Bobby Price, chief operating officer of New River Management and Development, which oversees economic development for the Catawba Indian Nation.

"We're doing this to reduce daily operational expenses and to make the business more profitable," Price said.

Catawba Bingo netted $2 million in 2001, Price said. But last year, net revenue was between $300,000 and $400,000.

Meanwhile, South Carolina has had nearly $3 billion in lottery sales since the games began in 2002. Lottery officials have said some of the strongest retail sites are in the Rock Hill area, on the state's border.

Catawba tribal member Deborah Crisco doesn't think competition is the reason for the reduction in hours at the bingo hall.

"I feel like it's a ploy to get attention from the state and say they're losing money and about to go broke," Crisco said.

The Catawba Indian Nation filed a lawsuit earlier this month, claiming the tribe has the right to have video gambling on its York County reservation because the state's lottery competes with the tribe's bingo operation. The tribe filed a similar suit in federal court last year that was dismissed.

In 1993, the tribe received a $50 million settlement that ended a tribal land claim and gave the tribe recognition as a limited sovereign Indian nation. The settlement also gave the tribe the right to operate two bingo parlors. The tribe opened its Rock Hill bingo hall in 1997.

Price said the state in 1998 amended the tribe's bingo activity through legislation but never obtained the tribe's approval, Price said. Federal legislation requires both parties to agree before a change is made.

Crisco expects the decision to cut back on hours at the bingo hall will hurt business.

"Once they lose their bingo crowd, it'll be hard to get them back," Crisco said.