The Arizona Department of Gaming July 16 revealed proposed event betting rules that spelled out how the 20 event wagering operator licenses will be handed out. In two months sports betting will go live in the state, says ADG.
Such a scheme is needed because, while the state has 22 tribal casinos operated by 15 gaming tribes, the new law gives 10 licenses for tribes and 10 for professional sports franchises. It is mathematically inevitable that some tribes will be left out. At the time the bill was passed, three months ago, author Rep. Jeff Weninger said he wanted to achieve “parity” between tribes and commercial interests when it came to sports betting. The new law allows up to two “skins” i.e. digital platforms per licensee.
The two-page document released July 16 was opened to public comment for a week. This brief comment period was allowed because of the “emergency clause” in the law that allows ADG to move the process along quickly in order to make the September 9 date for accepting wagers.
The most recent draft gives preference to qualified applicants who have a presence in Arizona or are partnered with a tribe or sports franchise. According to the draft ADG will give “preference that they be distributed among non-gaming tribes, rural gaming tribes, and to tribes located relatively near metropolitan areas in the State.”
ADG will also consider “Experience and track record of the proposed event wagering operator, management services provider, or designee both local and international.”
Currently six market operators and their partners have been announced:
- Bally’s (Phoenix Mercury)
- Caesars (Arizona Diamondbacks and Ak-Chin Indian Community)
- DraftKings (TPC Scottsdale/PGA)
- FanDuel (Phoenix Suns)
- Kindred (Quechan Tribe)
- WynnBET (San Carlos Apache Tribe).
Penn National is considered likely to partner with NASCAR at the Phoenix Raceway.
