15 Arizona Tribes Seek Gaming Licenses, 10 Permitted, ADG Decides

• Arizona Sports Betting Regulations Make 10 Licenses Available to Tribes, 15 Applied
• Arizona Department of Gaming has Five Days to Evaluate, Approve Applications
• Planned Launch Date for Arizona Sports Betting September 9 Still Possible

Arizona Sports Betting Regs Make 10 Licenses Available to Tribes, 15 Applied

Monday was the deadline in Arizona for accepting applications for one of the 20 available sports betting licenses in that state and in the end, the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) received 25 total applications – 10 from sports teams and other organizations and 15 from tribes.

Except in the regulations that the ADG finalized and submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office at the end of July, it establishes that only 10 of those licenses will be available for gaming tribes, which means five of the tribes seeking one will be turned down.

Of the other 10 licenses that will be available, some will go to the owners of the state’s professional sports teams, while the rest will go to the operators of the PGA Tour facility and the promoters of NASCAR, all of which make up Arizona’s exciting and fast-growing pro sports market.

State leaders are expecting the planned legal sports betting operation to add even more gambling revenue to the existing retail and online casino profits that Arizona already enjoys.

Arizona Department of Gaming has Five Days to Evaluate, Approve Applications

Starting on Tuesday, the ADG has five days to figure out which of the twenty-five applicants are qualified to hold a license, and assuming all of them are eligible, it would then conduct an “allocation evaluation” to select the final twenty.

According to the ADG, this evaluation will take the following factors into consideration:

• Business ability, experience, and track record
• Demonstrated vision, plus willingness and commitment to make local investments in Arizona
• Responsiveness, approachability, and involvement of local management

According to the ADG guidelines, the eight-day period in which qualified applicants will receive their licenses begins next Tuesday, which should put Arizona right on track to reach its planned deadline of September 9.

Planned Launch Date for Arizona Sports Betting September 9 Still Possible

From the start of the ADG’s legal sports betting process, a launch date of September 9 has been set, the goal being to give bettors a chance to get in on the upcoming NFL action which starts when the regular season begins on that same day.

The ADG has said that they will announce the qualified applicants on Monday, August 16, with final licensing decisions to be made by no later than August 27 so that operators can begin marketing their sportsbooks the next day.

Then, thanks to the planned 8% state tax on what is expected to be an annual sport betting revenue stream of almost $155 million, the estimated financial benefit to the state of Arizona is projected to be about $11.1 million annually.

Of course, compared with some states, these predictions seem low, especially given the number of pro sports franchises currently making the Grand Canyon State their home, so this revenue stream could increase gradually as legal sports betting in Arizona evolves.