The Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) has published a draft of rules that will govern sports betting in the Evergreen State. They will be open for public comment beginning June 23.
The legislature legalized sports betting for gaming tribes in March 2020.
The WSGC has incorporated many suggestions it received from stakeholders into the draft, including BetMGM, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, FanDuel, Rush Street Interactive, Sightline Payments, Sportradar and the Suquamish Tribe.
The commission will review the final language July 28—after which the rules could go in effect 31 days. If that happens, Washington sports betting could go live by the opening of the NFL season in September.
So far, the state has approved 15 amendments to existing tribal state gaming compacts, including the Colville, Cowlitz, Jamestown S’Klallam, Kalispel, Lummi, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Shoalwater Bay, Snoqualmie, Spokane, Squaxin Island, Stillaguamish, Suquamish, Swinomish, and Tulalip tribes. The revised compacts will be sent to Governor Jay Inslee for his signature and finally to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which must approve of any changes to compacts.
The rules include such things as fees for vendor licenses, major sports betting licenses, and ancillary sports wagering vendor licenses. The largest fee is $85,000 for an annual license.
Commission legal and legislature manager Brian Considine said the commission is moving quickly to get the rules finalized in time for the NFL season. Chairman Bud Sizemore commented, “A lot of work went into this and I want to thank everyone involved in this process.”
Washington is the only state that has granted a monopoly on sports betting to its gaming tribes. Twenty-two Washington tribes operate 29 casinos in the state.
