On Wednesday, the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) released its final draft event wagering rules with plans to approve these rules by the end of today. According to the ADG website, the regulator is still aiming to launch sports betting operators throughout the state on the 9th of September, which is the first day of the 2021 NFL season.
The rules of the draft
There are a number of rules set out within the Arizona draft that players and operators in the state must adhere to. Firstly, applications will only be accepted during a 10-day window, which the department will then notify potential operators if they have initially qualified for a license or not within five days. Secondly, if there are more applications than available licenses, the department will have a further eight days to determine which applications will be approved. The approved licenses will then be awarded to operators throughout the state by the 13th of August, ahead of the start of the NFL season.
The Arizona statute
Arizona’s statute will allow for 10 event wagering operator licenses each for professional sports leagues and federally recognized gaming tribes. Event wagering licenses allow for retail and digital wagering across the state. Although this is a limited number, there already appears to be representatives of seven professional sports leagues that could qualify for licenses. For example, the NFL Cardinals, MLB Diamondbacks, NBA Suns, NHL Coyotes and many more. There are also well over 10 tribes that could qualify for the license, which may cause some issues.
If the ADG approves final rules at its Friday meeting and they open the application window on Monday, July 26th, operators should receive their initial qualification notification by the 13th of August and their final approval at least the 25th of August.
