Arizona looks to double tribal sports betting licenses
Grand Canyon State legislators table bill to expand available licenses to 23 amid litigation pressures
Arizona legislators have tabled legislation to more than double the number of available mobile sports betting licenses available to tribal gaming operators in the Grand Canyon State.
If passed, senate bill 1674, tabled by Arizona senator Sally Ann Gonzales, would increase the number of available tribal licenses to 23, from the current 10 available, and one to each federally recognized tribe in the state.
The bill amends current in-force legislation which limits tribal operators to conducting only mobile sports betting outside the boundaries of its lands and around the wider state of Arizona.
The amendment would include amended wording, widening this tribal operational condition to add on retail sportsbooks within a five-block radius of a sports facility in the state.
Gonzales is a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council, one of several tribal operators who did not receive sports betting licences from the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) in June 2021.
All 10 licences available to tribal operators were allocated by the ADG, with the tribes partnering with operators including Wynn Resorts, Bally’s, Golden Nugget Online Gaming, Betway, Betfred, and Hard Rock Digital.
The likes of FanDuel and DraftKings took a different approach, partnering instead with a number of Grand Canyon State sports teams, as was granted under the initial legislation.
At the time, a Yavapai-Apache Nation/PointsBet bid, as well as Colorado River Indian Tribes/Blue Bet and a White Apache Mountain Tribe partnership with MaximBet all lost out in the race for the 10 licences.
According to ADG information, 24 tribal-led gambling facilities are in operation overseen by 16 tribes.
The Yavapai-Apache Nation previously attempted to block the launch of sports betting in Arizona, on the grounds that the prior legislation authorizing the vertical was unconstitutional.
An injunction to this effect was quashed by judges in Maricopa County in September, leading the tribe to launch a lawsuit against Arizona State legislators, litigation which is still ongoing.
A stay on the case was granted in November, with both tribe and state working on agreeing a settlement. Last month, the Maricopa County Superior Court suggested a settlement was “imminent and likely” in the dispute, but no formal date had been confirmed.
The case continues.
At a legislator level, the senate bill is due to be debated in the house this week.