The Washington legislature is considering sports betting with two bills that would allow the state’s 29 Indian casinos to offer Las Vegas-style sportsbook operations.
Tribes would be allowed to amend their tribal state gaming compacts to allow sports betting. Betting on college games would not be allowed. The House bills are HB 2478 and HB 2638. One is supported by tribes and the other by the largest casino owner in the state.
The Senate is also mulling sports betting bills: SB 6277 and SB 6394.
The legislature has a 60-day calendar; the deadline for a bill to be passed is March 13.
Eric Persson of Maverick Gaming has found lawmakers sympathetic to his arguments that the state’s small card clubs should also be allowed to offer sports book and that online sports betting should also be legal. Maverick has 19 such casinos in the state, making it the largest player in that arena, and a major employer.
Persson, who basically wrote HB 2478, which was introduced by Rep. Brandon Vick, last week told the House Commerce and Gaming Commission, “That’s what the consumer wants.”
Persson said his bill was based on New Jersey’s existing sports betting law, but critics point out that New Jersey has no tribal gaming.
The legislation taxes gross betting receipts at 10 percent, but exempts tribal and mobile platforms based in a tribal casino. The tax would apply to card rooms, horse racetracks and mobile bets not placed on the reservation. It sets a minimum age of 18 for sports betting, compares to 21 for most states.
Committee Chairman Strom Peterson, another sponsor of the bill, said recently that it attempts to “figure out a slow and steady way to kind of enter into this new arena of gambling.” He added, “Sports wagering (the illegal kind) is happening in our state. It will continue to grow.”
The committee heard testimony from many interested parties, but took no vote.
Although HB 2478 includes more stakeholders, such as mobile sports betting, racetracks and tribal casinos, tribes say they weren’t consulted in the writing of the bill. Most of them support HB 2638, which is as much their bill as HB 2478 is Maverick’s.
Kevin Zenishek, executive director of casino operations for the Northern Quest Casino, owned by the Kalispel tribe, takes credit for taking “the initiative to push forward” sports betting. It would limit sports betting to tribal casinos and on-site mobile.
Some tribal representatives argue that private businesses don’t provide public benefits and so shouldn’t be allowed to participate. Moreover, they say, 90 percent of the state’s population lives within 30 miles of a tribal casino.
David Bean, chairman of the Puyallup Tribe, testified before the committee to support sports betting, but argued that it should remain a tribal provenance. “You know us. You trust us,” said the chairman. “This is our home.”
Another tribal member, Charlene Tillequots, told lawmakers, “I’m worried about problem gaming by youth.”
“We are completely different from the Mavericks of the world,” declared Jerry Allen, general manager of the 7 Cedars Resort tribal casino, which is operated by the Jamestown S’Kallam Tribe.
Indian gaming in Washington provides jobs to 30,000 people and pays $1.5 billion in wages and benefits, said Rebecca Kaldor, director of the Washington Indian Gaming Association. It also pays $722 million in taxes.
Persson argues that tribal casinos shouldn’t have a monopoly on sports betting and that illegal sports betting through offshore operations is rampant and ought to be brought under state regulation. If the state wants to reduce such activity, the best way is to regulate it, he said.
In a recent statement, he said, “Critically, regulated legal sports betting has the dual benefit of undermining offshore criminal networks which currently profit from the unregulated and unsafe system.”
Also testifying for a larger participation in sports betting was a representative of the Washington Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, Patrick Lepley, who noted that sports betting in most states is legal at racetracks. However, while supporting it at tribal casinos, who opposes it for cardrooms.
Last month, the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee held an informational meeting on the two senate bills under consideration.
It heard from GeoComply, which provides geofencing that enables providers to ensure that those making wagers are within the state where it’s legal and SportsRadar, which provides official league data and integrity monitoring.
Because of the short legislative session, any of the bills in the House or Senate would need to be moved out of committee within the next couple of weeks to stand a chance of being approved this year.
