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By the end of this week, the state of Arizona plans to announce all the recipients of its sports betting and daily fantasy sports licenses. The state will start offering legal daily fantasy sports on August 28, with sports betting becoming legal in Arizona on September 9.
That will be just in time for the start of the National Football League season. That night, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take on the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL’s opening night game.
The Details of Arizona’s Betting Laws
Arizona legalized betting on both sports and daily fantasy sports back in April, paving the way for licenses to be given out. The bill that outlined the law allows for 20 total sports betting licenses. Ten of those will go to the state’s recognized tribes, with the other 10 going to professional sports entities.
Companies interested in obtaining a sports betting license in Arizona had to officially apply with the Arizona Department of Gaming. That process closed on August 9, but full announcements haven’t been made just yet.
In total, Arizona did say it received 16 applications from various tribes and 10 from various sports entities. Just because an operator applied for a license, though, doesn’t mean that it will receive one.
What We Know So Far
FanDuel Sportsbook was the first company to announce a partnership with a professional sports entity in Arizona. On the very same day that Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey signed the law that allows for sports betting in Arizona, FanDuel announced their partnership with the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association.
As part of this partnership, FanDuel will open a physical sportsbook in downtown Phoenix, at the Footprint Center. The facility will be 7,400 square feet in total, with various walkup betting windows and betting kiosks, in addition to a huge wall of TVs to watch games. FanDuel will also operate a mobile sportsbook in Arizona.
The Phoenix Mercury partnered with Bally’s Corp. for its sportsbook.
BetMGM has partnered with the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL, and will open their sportsbook in the Gila River Hotels & Casinos. Barstool Sportsbook has partnered with the Phoenix Raceway.
Caesars Sportsbook will open their sportsbook at Chase Field as part of their partnership with the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. Caesars also has a partnership with the Fiesta Bowl Organization, which runs college football’s Guaranteed Rate Bowl and PlayStation Fiesta Bowl.
Finally, DraftKings has partnered with the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale.
Tribal Partners
There were six more applications from tribal entities than available licenses. That means the ADG will have to whittle down their choices, with some applicants missing out on a sports betting license for now.
That being said, some partnerships have already been announced. Casino Del Sol is partnering with Scientific Games. The Pascua Yaqui Tribe owns that casino. In addition to the Casino Del Sol, the Casino of the Sun will open a retail sportsbook through that partnership.
Seven other sportsbook operators have announced partnerships with Arizona tribes. They include WynnBet, TwinSpires, PointsBet, MaximBet, Kindred Group, BlueBet and Betfred.