Arizona Sports Betting

Editor’s note: As of Jan. 12, 2021

With legislation introduced in January 2019 in the Arizona Senate, lawmakers and Native American tribes in Arizona have to work out issues as prickly as a cactus before sports betting will be legal in the state.

Existing tribal compacts with Native Americans that have gaming interests has provided a high hurdle to clear before sports betting can become law.

As of now sports betting bill SB1158 is on hold in the Appropriation and Rules committees.

According to Bloomberg, Arizona must rework the agreements with more than 20 tribes or risk losing large amounts of revenue. The tribes pay the state tax of about 8 percent on its gaming revenue – almost $80 million a year. Tribal leaders have said they are willing to negotiate.

Unfortunately, the tribes first need to agree on what the new deal should look like. The Navajo Nation wants exclusive sports betting rights off the reservation, with kiosks at non-tribal bars and clubs. Other state tribes fear this proposal would undermine on-reservation casinos.

The complexity of issues is slowing the process, with the Action Network, which features analysis on sports betting, predicting Arizona won’t see wagering on the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, NBA’s Phoenix Suns, MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks or NHL’s Arizona Coyotes or on collegiate contests until 2021.

“The tribes themselves can’t even decide if or how they want to be involved, so this is going to take a while to sort itself out,” an Action Network report state in September.

Is sports betting currently legal in the state?

No, however betting on Horse Racing is allowed in the state as this comes under a different law. One of the approved vendors in the state of Arizona is TVG who are fully licensed and compliant.