Maverick Gaming says it’s not abandoning its efforts to get a bill passed that would allow commercial casinos to offers sportsbooks. It is in it for the long-term. CEO said recently “Maverick Gaming is going to be pushing for this until we bust down that door.”
To emphasize its commitment to Washington state, it is moving its corporate headquarters from Nevada to Kirkland.
Maverick and its union supporters say an expanded gaming bill, Senate Bill 5212, would add to jobs and increase tax revenues for the state. He operates 19 card rooms in the state, more than half of those in business and employs 2,200 people.
“Our team works every day to offer something safe, fun, and accessible for our guests, and to be good neighbors doing our share of supporting the people who live and work in the places we operate,” Persson said recently.
The Senate Labor Commerce & Tribal Affairs Committee recently held hearings on the bill that would allow card rooms and horseracing tracks to offer sports betting. It would allow mobile sportsbooks, but only within the confines of the venues offering it.
Senator Curtis King, one of the sponsors of the bill, said during the hearings, “Tribes, as you know, have rights to the casinos and the vast majority of the gambling that goes on in-state and they make millions of dollars off that every year. This doesn’t touch any of that.”
Opponents, led by the state’s two dozen gaming tribes, say they will lose revenues that are used to better the lives of tribal members.
Washington Indian Gaming Association Director Rebecca George said in a statement: “This is our tax base. It’s irresponsible for the Legislature to allow sports betting to the benefit of out-of-state people.”
The is the second time Maverick has pushed such a bill, and its CEO Eric Persson says that if it loses again this year it will keep coming back. He points out that this year the bill has bipartisan support.
Last year around this time the legislature approved sports betting, but only for tribal casino. The compacts to include that language are still be negotiated between the state and some tribes. So sports betting still hasn’t been deployed. The Maverick-sponsored bill would not take effect until after those compacts are in effect.
Persson argues that the bill would provide $50 million in revenues to the state. “This is the best type of tax, consumption tax. It doesn’t tax the people who don’t want to participate in it,” he said.
That figure has been questioned by George who said recently, “For $50 million we would need a handle similar to states like Nevada or New Jersey. It would mean billions of dollars of betting would have to be placed. Their estimates are either wildly inflated or based on a huge increase on gambling in our state, something our public does not want.”
Senator Derek Stanford also questions the figure. “That does not seem possible to me,” he said, saying the figure is more like $4 million or less.
The bill proposes a 10 percent tax on gaming revenue from sports betting.
George assails the proposal as being “here to advance the bottom line of a Nevada company.”
As if to address that criticism, Persson announced this week that he is moving his corporate HQ to Kirkland. “I grew up in Hoquiam and am humbled and excited to be locating Maverick Gaming’s headquarters in my home state,” he said in a statement. “Establishing our company’s corporate headquarters in Kirkland is just one of the ways that our team is prioritizing local commitments as we expand our investment in Washington. Our team works every day to offer something safe, fun, and accessible for our guests, and to be good neighbors doing our share of supporting the people who live and work in the places we operate.”
Kirkland Mayor Penny Sweet hailed the move: “In just a few years, Maverick Gaming has shown a commitment to Washington – whether it is through their Maverick Cares community giving program or because they embraced being the largest private-sector employer of Teamsters Local 117. I look forward to Maverick Gaming continuing to deepen its investment in Kirkland and across our state.”
Senator Marko Liias, another sponsor of the bill, in a TV interview said, “There are also non-tribal interests that are opposed that worry about the existing problem of problem gambling and existing impacts of gaming in our state. I want to listen to all those concerns.”
