Arizona bill to give tribes exclusivity for sports betting at casinos and bars

Arizona is among several other states making news with its developments towards the legalization of sports betting this week. It was recently voted 6-3 by the Appropriations Committee in favor of moving SB 1163, the newly named sports betting bill, further in the legislative process of the Senate.

Prior to the newly named sports betting bill, the Arizona Senate Commerce and Public Safety Committee both heard and discussed SB 1158. However, this original bill was unable to make it out of the committee, so Senator Sonny Borrelli enacted an amendment to SB 1163 to allow another committee to discuss the subject matter.

SB 1163 allowed Borrelli to remove the original text of the bill and replace it with new language that would legalize sports betting in Arizona by giving exclusiveness to the state’s tribes. The bill would require a tribal-commercial relationship which would result in tribal-owned kiosks in bars and other private venues.

Arizona’s Native American tribes oppose this legislative effort to legalize sports betting in Arizona. Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to advance a bill to bring sports gambling to bars and private clubs over the objections of representatives from tribal governments across the state, who argued that sports betting should be discussed with the Governor’s Office.

“The nation supports legal sports betting in the state of Arizona,” said Larry Jackson, vice chairman of the Yavapai-Apache Nation. “But the nation firmly believes that this bill is not the appropriate mechanism for such legislation.”

The Navajo Nation was the only tribe supportive of legislation brought by Senator Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City. His SB 1163 would give tribes the exclusive right to operate sports betting machines in their existing casinos, but also remotely at bars and clubs. Those machines, unlike those in casinos, would be taxed at 6.75 percent.

Representatives from the Tohono O’odham Nation, the San Carlos Apache Nation and the Yavapai-Apache Nation, and the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, criticized Borrelli for failing to consult with tribes other than the Navajo. Rather than resolve the matter legislatively, tribal leaders urged senators to table Borrelli’s proposal and let tribes negotiate with Governor Doug Ducey.

Ducey agrees, and told the Arizona Capitol Times that sports betting and other technological advances necessitate renegotiations of agreements between tribal leaders and state officials that grant Native American tribes exclusive rights to operate casinos in Arizona.

“What I’m going to want to do is bring all the constituencies together and make sure we do this right and do it in a way that maximizes the opportunity for the state,” Ducey said on February 27. The Governor’s Office is already engaged in negotiations with tribal leaders to renew, and potentially overhaul, the gaming compacts with certain tribes covering Class 3 games. Sports betting falls under the same category, so it should be subject to the same negotiations regarding the compacts, according to Steve Titla, an attorney for the San Carlos Apache Nation.