The Arizona Government Is Promoting Sports Betting Across the Country

By Matt Speakman,
Betting Expert at online-gambling.com

Matt Speakman Betting Expert at online-gambling.com

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Last updated: January 23, 2021

According to Doug Ducey, governor of Arizona, the state has already made a new agreement with the clans that have the special rights to operate gambling in the state. He also wants to manage bets on instant keno games and fantasy leagues. Voters voted for the current 20-year pacts in 2002, and new partnerships do not need voter approval.

He wants to pave the process for nationwide commercial gambling, fantasy league betting, mobile betting capabilities, and instant keno gaming.

Ducey Aims to Expand Restricted and Well-Organized Gambling

To that end, Arizona lawmakers must repeal laws prohibiting gambling. In a document released to legislatures, the governor said he has struck a new pact with the Arizona tribes that gave the freedom to run casino-style gambling with certain restrictions. In his address to the legislatures, Dewey said “he aims to expand restricted and well-organized gambling.”

The governor said the new agreement will bring more income to the tribes and more revenue to the state, which currently receives a portion of the profits from tribal games income. Ducey aims to bring the game to Arizona into the 21st century. Much has changed since the first pacts were approved when mobile phones were not what they are today. He also said that the world is very different today, and his plan aims to reflect how people live.

Ducey made this discovery because the current 20-year contracts, approved by voters in 2002, are about to expire. The tribes have a vested concern in keeping the income in circulation. And for Ducey, the revised pacts are the method to earn extra dollars for the government without raising taxes if he wants legislators to cut taxes even further.

The Future of Arizona Sports Betting

Ducey has always wanted to make more money developing the game. In 2018, he tried to fund part of his teacher reward program by persuasive Arizona residents to play keno. However, Keno’s no-reserve plan pushed by the Arizona lottery had to be canceled after it appeared to violate existing tribal agreements that prohibited the state from playing new games that had not yet been licensed when the 2002 Agreements were adopted. The new alliances offered options for change while the tribes saw benefits. Recent pacts will not need elector permission.

There were previously some off-reservation betting games in the state. While the future of online sports betting in Arizona remains unclear, there are also over 50 off-track gambling websites across the state, mostly in bars, where Arizona residents can place bets not only on horse events but also pony and dog races across the state. Vince France, the managing director of Turf Paradise, which operates most of these OTB websites, is looking forward to receiving some of Ducey’s sports betting offerings.

There had been earlier attempts to allow gambling at sporting events in 2019, but all proposals fell apart when Ducey announced he wanted the plan to be part of a tribal treaty renegotiation.