Arkansas Legalizes Sports Betting Via Ballot Referendum, First Casino Licenses Issued

Arkansas voters on Tuesday legalized sports betting on the only mid-term election ballot initiative in the country dealing with sports betting. Issue 4, a ballot measure that amends the state constitution to allow sports betting, has passed.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, with 99 percent of votes counted, 54.1 percent of over 860,000 voters had checked “yes” and 45.9 percent “no” to authorizing casinos in four counties that may include sports wagering among their offerings to patrons.

Arkansas became the second state in its region to legalize sports betting after Mississippi did so last summer. None of its other border states offer legal sports betting, though Oklahoma, Missouri and Louisiana all have commercial or tribal casinos. Arkansas is the seventh state outside of Nevada to legalize sports betting behind Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

 
 

Read more Arkansas Legalizes Sports Betting Via Ballot Referendum, First Casino Licenses Issued on SportsHandle.

New Mexico Lottery to Offer Game Tied to Sports

The New Mexico Lottery Board on Tuesday voted to approve a game linked with the outcome of sporting events, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. The game will mark the second venture for an entity in New Mexico to offer sports betting after the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in May. Just last month, the tribal-owned Santa Ana Star Casino & Hotel, with USBookmaking as its operator, launched a sportsbook. 

Though details of the new lottery game were not made public, it’s likely it will involve parlay wagering, similar to Delaware’s sports lottery. In such a game, players must select the winners of at least three sports events and select each one correctly in order to win.

The driving force behind developing a sports-related lottery game is to generate more money for education, which the lottery funds. Lottery CEO David Barden told the Santa Fe New Mexican that the new game could produce $30 million a year, with $9 million to be directed to the lottery’s college tuition assistance program.

 
 

Read more New Mexico Lottery to Offer Game Tied to Sports on SportsHandle.

Sports Betting Launches In New Mexico: ‘We Expect A Big Weekend’

The post Sports Betting Launches In New Mexico: ‘We Expect A Big Weekend’ appeared first on SportsHandle.

The Santa Ana Star Casino & Hotel, a tribal gaming operation near Albuquerque, New Mexico, is now the first Western U.S. state to join Nevada in offering full-fledged sports betting in a legal environment.

The first bet, made Tuesday at noon Mountain Time, was a $30 money line win ticket on the Astros to beat the Red Sox (-128) in game four of their ALCS contest Tuesday. The Red Sox lost 8-2.  

Las Vegas-based USBookmaking is risk manager for the Santa Ana Star, in operation since 1993 by Tamaya Nation at the Pueblo of Santa Ana. US Bookmaking Director of Operations John Salerno told Sports Handle, it’s a B2B operation utilizing the Stadium betting platform with all employees working directly for the property. It has four windows for taking bets and will be open daily from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m., with expanded hours on weekends.

 
 

Read more Sports Betting Launches In New Mexico: ‘We Expect A Big Weekend’ on SportsHandle.

USBookmaking Partners With Tribal Casino to Offer New Mexico Sports Betting

In what could be a precedent-setting advancement of sports wagering, a New Mexico tribal casino says it will begin offering sports betting next week.

Las Vegas-based USBookmaking said Monday it has an agreement to provide Nevada-style sports betting services to the Santa Ana Star Casino & Hotel, a tribal gaming operation in near Albuquerque.

Although sports wagering is not currently legal in New Mexico, this is believed to be the second state tribal operation to move forward with sports wagering plans by taking the position that sports betting is permissible under its current compact with the state.

Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting and Sports: Cowboys Partners With Casino, MS Numbers, And the First NFL Weekend

The post Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting and Sports: Cowboys Partners With Casino, MS Numbers, And the First NFL Weekend appeared first on SportsHandle.

It’s information overload everywhere, and there’s not time enough to sleep and eat and stay fully apprised of what’s happening on this crazy blue dot of ours (two out of three ain’t bad).

Here’s the weekend Sports Handle item, “Get a Grip,” rounding up top stories in sports betting and gaming, and the world of sports at large. You may have missed them, and they are worth reading. This is meant to be brief, so that’s it.

In First-of-Its Kind Deal, NFL’s Dallas Cowboys Partners With Oklahoma Casino

Dallas Cowboys sports betting WinStar World Casino Resort
The WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackersville, OK

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has broke new NFL ground after partnering “America’s Team” with a casino business. The Cowboys on Thursday announced a partnership with WinStar World Casino in Oklahoma, owned by the Chickasaw Nation Tribe, according to Reuters. This is the first time a casino has been granted status as an official team partner, and allowed to use a team’s logos and trademarks. The deal was made possible after NFL owners amended their bylaws to allow casinos to obtain official partnerships with NFL teams.

 

The post Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting and Sports: Cowboys Partners With Casino, MS Numbers, And the First NFL Weekend appeared first on SportsHandle.

Arizona Must Consider Tribes When Crafting Sports Betting Law

The post Arizona Must Consider Tribes When Crafting Sports Betting Law appeared first on SportsHandle.

Arizona lawmakers are finding themselves in a pinch similar to other states — it’s slow going on the sports betting front because of existing tribal compacts with Indian gaming interests. Arizona hasn’t made any real progress on sports betting this year, and part of the reason is what’s often referred to as the “poison pill” that states dealing with tribal compacts must consider.

In Arizona’s case, according to a recent report from the Bloomberg, the state would lose significant revenue should it introduce sports betting without reworking the tribal pacts. The state has deals with more than 20 tribes, each of which pay the state a tax of up to 8 percent — which translates into about $80 million annually — on gaming revenue. From the Bloomberg story, Stephen Hart, who practices Indian and gaming law, said Arizona would be hard-pressed to pass a sports betting law that would allow the state or commercial interests to offer sports betting, but not the local tribes.

The current gaming compact dates to 2002 and was approved by voters. Tribal leaders are open to adding sports betting to their repertoire and working with the state to hammer out an agreement.

AZ Sports Betting Law Would Have to Include Reworking Tribal Pacts.

“We are looking forward to discussing with the state how we can go about working together on developing this opportunity, which could be a win/win for the state of Arizona and Arizona tribes,” Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian community told 12 News in May.

But working with tribes is tricky, as lawmakers in Connecticut, Michigan and many other states are learning. In Connecticut, outgoing governor Dannel Malloy was pushing for a special session to legalize sports betting, but put that on the back burner after failing to come to an agreement with the state’s two Indian tribes. In Michigan, Representative Brandt Iden, who was hoping to move quickly with sports betting legislation, tabled much of the discussion for the summer so he could focus on negotiating with the state’s tribes.

Of the six states that have legalized sports betting to date, only Mississippi has tribal gaming, but the tribes do not have any relationship with the state’s gaming commission.

The Arizona legislature has considered sports betting and daily fantasy in past sessions, but neither has gained much traction.

The post Arizona Must Consider Tribes When Crafting Sports Betting Law appeared first on SportsHandle.