Governor Doug Ducey has signed a bill that allows sports betting to become legal in the state of Arizona Thursday.
During the event, Ducey also signed a new gambling compact agreement with the Tribal Nations which the governor and the tribes called "a historic agreement."
The Diamondbacks, Suns, Cardinals, and Coyotes will all have licenses to operate on-site sports betting at their arenas. So will the Phoenix Open and NASCAR. Sports betting will also be available at tribal casinos.
On Monday, both chambers of the Arizona Legislature passed bills that would legalize sports betting in Arizona.
“I don’t think we’re talking about in the $10’s of millions. We’re talking about in the $100’s of millions,” says State Representative Jeff Weninger (R) Chandler District 17.
That’s just the estimate on the revenue the state will receive. Weninger’s bill is the one the Governor signed Thursday.
Arizona joins 25 other states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico in legalizing sports wagering.
A 2018 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court allowed state lawmakers to decide whether or not it could be legal in their specific states.
The federal government and the Bureau of Indian Affairs still need to sign off on the bill, but that is considered a formality. The process could take as little as 90 days.
The Phoenix Suns announced Thursday that they have partnered with the sports betting app FanDuel, which will have a "luxury sportsbook retail location" inside the Suns arena.
"The legalization of mobile sports betting will forever change the sports and entertainment landscape in the state and opens the door for a fan engagement revolution that will be led by the Phoenix Suns, the Valley’s first major sports team, and FanDuel, the leading online sports gaming company in the U.S. and an Authorized Gaming Operator and Official Daily Fantasy Partner of the NBA," the teams said in a press release.
The Diamondbacks have said they plan to have a sportsbook location outside of Chase Field.
