One Arizona community is bringing the state’s new sports betting rules to court.
Prosecutors from the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe filed a lawsuit against Gov. Ted Vogt, Doug Ducey, and the director of the Arizona Department of Gaming.
The community claimed that lawmakers illegally passed a law in April allowing state-regulated betting. They filed a lawsuit regarding this matter in the Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday.
The case documents include a motion for a temporary restraining order and an initial order of the new rules. Attorneys also submitted a verified issue for asserting and seeking injunctive relief. If approved by the judge, the lawsuit would halt the state’s legalization of sports gambling.
Yavapai – Prescott alleges that elected officials violated the state’s law.
KOLD News 13 initially reported that the tribe’s lawyers are contending that the newly passed law breaches the state’s Voter Protection Act. They argue this because it allows gaming operators, who are not part of the tribe, to provide gaming services outside of tribal lands.
Additionally, the tribe asserts that the new law misrepresents the intent of the Indian Gaming Preservation and Self-Reliance Act. This act, enacted in 2002, permits tribes to run Class III gambling in tribal casinos within Arizona.
In 2002, voters also turned down the Fair Gaming Act, a proposal that would have permitted non-tribal game users to participate in the state.
The tribe believes that the new legislation infringes on the state’s prohibition of specific laws that grant special privileges to certain groups or individuals. Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that the enactment of the law as an emergency measure, allowing it to be immediately effective, was also in violation of the constitution.
Plaintiffs are seeking a temporary restraining order and initiating a potentially conclusive lawsuit against a game allowed by the new rules. If the lawsuit proves successful, it may reverse all attempts to legalize sports betting in Arizona.
What could betting activities entail for tribes in Arizona?
The sports betting legislation in Arizona has allocated 10 licenses to professional sports teams and venues, and another 10 to tribes. Each licensee is permitted to establish retail sportsbooks and mobile betting apps in Arizona.
However, the issue lies in the fact that the state has more tribes than the licenses allocated for that group. It seems that most tribes were interested in legal betting. The Arizona Department of Gaming received more applications than the number of licenses available. Consequently, not all tribes will be able to offer online betting. But the ADG reassured PlayAZ that all tribal casinos can engage in retail sports betting.
In Arizona, 22 tribes are federally recognized, however, only 16 of them operate games. The two casinos in Prescott, Yavapai Casino and Bucky’s Casino, are operated by these tribes.
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