Arizona Governor Steve Ducey has hired a gaming compact negotiator, Kirk Adams, who told the Arizona Mirror last week that Ducey was “looking to see how the state can increase revenue.”
Gaming tribes pay a percentage of their casino profits to the state, as is required by the state tribal gaming compacts. Since 1993 the tribes have paid the state more than $1.45 billion in fees on Class III revenues. Existing compacts are not due to expire for several years. However, it is not unusual for tribes and states to begin maneuvering for position years before compacts expire.
Adams told the Mirror “The environment has changed quite a bit,” and certainly one facet of that environment that didn’t exist even last year was the possibility of sports betting. Another factor is that tribal gaming revenues have been rising for seven years in a row. Currently there are 24 tribal casinos in the state.
How big an issue this is with Ducey may be deduced from the fact that he didn’t mention it in his second inaugural address on January 7.
