Don’t look for sports betting in Arizona by year’s end. And 2021 could be a problem, as support from the state Senate and House of Representatives have stalled on two fronts. Tribal operators have not approved any of the proposals and lawmakers have their own concerns.
The first bill floated out there sought to legalize land-based betting, which would permit commercial and tribal casinos to establish retail sportsbooks, according to Gambling News. Tribal objections stemmed from a loss of sovereignty in seeking approval from the state. Tribes assume they could launch betting products through the compacts negotiated with the state.
The Arizona Indian Gaming Association opposed the bill as well. Furthermore, the bill does not permit mobile and online betting, a convenience factor.
Meanwhile, the co-sponsors of the bills, Senator Sonny Borrelli and Rep. Stephen Pierce, have championed a revised version of a 2019 proposal that failed to pick up support. Under the legislation, every tribal casino in Arizona could offer sports betting but without mobile or online components, and a referendum would be required.
If all the tribes can’t agree, the law goes nowhere because every tribes in a compact should sign off to any expansion to the compact.
A referendum could be in place for 2021’s election, but some say a law won’t be approved until 2022.
As Arizona faces pandemic-related budget issues, legalization of sports betting offers a plausible way to make up some ground.
In related Western sports betting news, the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming is banking on its authorization from the U.S. Department of the Interior to offer sports betting without benefit of enabling legislation from the state. Class III gaming—the kind offered by the Northern Arapaho—permits sports betting.
If not challenged, sports betting could be coming to three casinos. Still, it’s not entirely clear whether tribes need state approval to launch sports betting. Sports betting in New Mexico began under similar assumptions and no one has stopped it.
Yet in Oklahoma, Governor Kevin Stitt tried to add sports betting to new tribal compacts but the state Supreme Court said otherwise, according to Legal Sports Report.
No tribes have tried to launch mobile sports betting without state legislation. Federal legislation last year that would have let tribes offer mobile betting as long as the servers were located on their reservations, but it never became law.
North Dakota didn’t pass legislation either, but the compact for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians allows sports betting. The tribe will utilize IGT‘s PlaySports platform, self-service kiosks and trading services.
