Arizona Green Lights Sports Betting

The state of Arizona has signed off on a major gambling expansion allowing for online sports betting among a raft of other gambling activities.

Arizona governor Doug Ducey signed the bill allowing for state tribes and professional sports teams to offer sports betting along with more casino related games and an increase in slot machines.

The measures passed will help the struggling government’s budgets and allow for tribal Indians to have four more casinos but only two in the next ten years.

Governor Ducey said on the new gambling expansion: “There’s no question that Arizona has grown and changed significantly since the last major compact update in 2003,” he went on to say. “It’s important that we account for these changes in our policies and our compacts.”

In total there are 24 tribal casinos in the state and that now is set to grow with the new bill, along with an increase of 6,300 slot machines, however the current number allowed 20,500 has not been full used. The same goes for the increase in table games which currently allows for 13,500 card table games but just 430 are currently used.

But the major item is the allowance of sports betting for tribes and professional sports teams, both will be allowed to operate up to 10 licenses in and around their locations along with offering an online platform for sports betting.

The bill only allows for these organisations to operate the licenses and no external operators are allowed to apply, making only suppliers allowed to partner with those organisations.

Sporting teams such as Arizona Coyotes, Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals could see a major windfall along with tribal Indians, but companies like DraftKings could come in to offer their platform to those involved.

The bill also will allow for all options of online gambling and lawmakers believe that the expansion in gambling could bring in as much as $34 million a year in tax revenues. Last year Tribal gambling generated $2 billion in revenues, helping the state receive $102 million in taxes.