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Bovada is accessible from the great state of Arizona, as is Gambling911.com favorite BetUS, but if Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has any say, they will soon have some company.
Ducey is asking GOP-controlled Legislature to OK much more legal gaming, off and on reservations. This includes sports betting.
The Arizona proposal would involve having the state license the major US-based players like DraftKings and FanDuel.
There is one slight problem.
A 2002 initiative bars the state from implementing any form of gambling that did not exist at the time. This includes sports wagering.
The tribes also had the right to operate casinos through to 2022 and, as those compacts are coming to a close, Ducey now had the ability to renegotiate.
Per Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services:
Ducey’s proposal involves 20 licenses, with half reserved for the tribes. The other half would be divided up among Arizona sports teams or franchises.
So the Cardinals would be able to get one, as would the Diamondbacks, the Suns, the Coyotes, NASCAR and the Professional Golf Association. And they, in turn, would contract with secondary locations to serve as off-track betting parlors.
“Our goal is to bring Arizona gaming into the 21st century,” Ducey press aide C.J. Karamargin told Capitol Media Services.
“A lot has changed since the first compacts were signed, back when cellphones weren’t the thing they are now,” he said. “The world looks a lot different today and our proposal is intended to reflect the way people live their lives today.”
It does appear that college sports and mobile betting would be part of the package. Daily fantasy sports for real money and Keno will also be permitted. You must be 21 or older to gamble in the Grand Canyon state.
For now Arizona residents will have to rely on a dozen or so offshore sportsbooks, some of which have been in business for over two decades and have deeper pockets than pretty much all of tribal casinos in the state.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
