Earlier this week, the legalization of sports betting in the state of Arizona came closer to a done deal.
On Monday the Arizona Department of Gaming continued public debate on draft sports betting rules. The main areas of debate at the meeting included the number of allowable betting skins, license fees, the tax rate of sports betting, and the allocation of licenses. The Department of Gaming set a deadline for written comment on the draft rules on 11:59 p.m. on June 21.
How close is Arizona sports betting to reality?
A brief comment period will then follow after the comments are taken into considerations and any changes are made to the draft rules. With the meetings moving along at a brisk pace, Arizona law makers expect to meet their planned launch date of September 9 for sports betting.
Under legislation already passed during the spring session, 10 sports betting licenses will be allocated to the state’s 22 native tribes and 10 licenses will be allocated to the state’s professional sports teams and venues. With only 10 licenses available for the native tribes the state must come up with a way to fairly allocated them.
Judging by the discussions held at this week’s meeting each license holder will likely receive only one sports betting skin. This would likely work well or most of the state’s professional sports teams who have already partnered with a sportsbook operator.
For example, the Arizona Cardinals have signed a partnership with FanDuel Sportsbook, while the Arizona Diamondbacks have announced a partnership with Caesars Sportsbook. It is believed these operators are already hard at work preparing for the planned launch date.
If no problems emerge on the way to the expected launch date of September 9 Arizona will become one of the fastest states to launch sports betting following its legalization. The bill legalizing sports betting in the state, HB 2772, passed on April 12.
Gov. Doug Ducey signed the bill into law on April 15, along with the newly expanded tribal gaming compact. This new compact received the necessary approval from the Federal Department of the interior on May 24.