Arizona Sports Betting Bill Clears The House, Heads Towards Senate Vote
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HB 2772 Passes Through House
HB2772 was passed through the House by a vote of 48-12. This bill would allow legalized sportsbooks at professional sports venues and tribal casinos. It would also allow tribal casinos to offer online sports betting within the state. The bill would allow 24 tribal casinos and seven professional sports venues to apply for a sports betting license. The big help for tribal casinos will be the eligibility to allow online sports betting outside of the tribal lands. FanDuel and DraftKings would also be allowed to operate as both a sportsbook and bring their daily fantasy sports platform to Arizona. The state has been one of the very few to not allow daily fantasy sports.
What Happens Next?
There are two steps the bill needs to clear before things can really get rolling. There are now actually two bills awaiting a Senate vote. SB1794 is the one that includes horse racing, which caused a lot of concern because this was not agreed upon with the state tribes. Things are looking up now. If that bill does fail, there is HB2772 to be the backup which would bring essentially the same sports betting licenses and availability to the public.
The bill now needs to go towards a Senate vote before it can be brought to Gov Doug Ducey to be signed into effect. Ducey has already voiced his support for legalized sports betting in the state. The Senate vote is really the last hurdle to make for this bill. The state has until mid-April to vote and pass on through to Ducey.
Why HB2772 Is More Likely To Pass Than SB1794
A report came out last week that SB1794 would include horse racing in Arizona, which was essentially jammed into sports betting. This caused many to panic about the legality of sports betting before HB2772 came into play. Horse races have been opposed by the state tribes for a while, and adding them into the bill would likely jeopardize the compact. Political experts wouldn’t expect Ducey to sign anything that would completely derail the compact revisions agreement. There has been a long battle when it comes to the compact agreement and has been what stands in the way from legalized sports betting and even just playing daily fantasy sports.
Arizona is in a good spot over the next month and a half to approve legalized sports betting. From the details of the bills, it would become an open market for many operators to move in and partner with tribal casinos and sports venues.
