Sports Betting Bill Passes Committee, Moves To Arizona Senate Floor

• SB 1158 failed to pass committee, leaving AZ sports betting legalization on life support
• Sponsor Sen. Sonny Borrelli used controversial “strike all” amendment to reintroduce an altered version of the bill as SB 1163.
• SB 1163 bars sports betting in major counties, allows tribal exclusivity/ownership of commercial kiosks throughout the state.

PHOENIX – Sports betting legalization was all but dead this year in the Arizona Senate. That is, until lawmakers in the state employed the curious “strike all” amendment, creating a whole new proposal. And fortunately, this one might have legs.

The first sports wagering bill being considered by Arizona’s Senate Appropriations Committee was SB 1158, introduced last month. After failing to gain traction and suffering a veto override on the motion to reconsider, bill sponsor Sonny Borrelli (R-5, Havasu City) employed the state’s unique striker amendment, allowing the entire proposal to be rewritten.

The striker was used on SB 1163, which was originally a prostitution-related bill. All content was removed from the bill, and a modified version of SB 1158 was inserted in its place. The new version introduced via SB 1163 is substantively different enough to have gained majority support, giving legal sports wagering new life in the state for 2019.

That said, SB 1163 still has to go to the Senate floor, pass, and be passed by the state House before landing at the governor’s desk. Its passage into law is thus far from a sure thing.  Still, Senator Borrelli sees this as a step in the right direction.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of seeing our money going to Nevada and tired of seeing our money going off-shore. In my book, options equal freedom and [SB 1163 would] allow our citizens to participate in games they like.”

Slow Your Roll

The main difference between SB 1158 and SB 1163 is that the latter includes sports wagering prohibitions for both Maricopa County and Pinal County. This was a sticking point, and the new revision seems to have addressed that to the Committee’s satisfaction.

Taking these huge population centers (where over 70% of all state residents live) out of consideration allows for sports wagering to be rolled out more slowly, and it also gives the state’s tribes a nod, pushing the bulk of sports betting business into their jurisdictions.

Tribal Exclusivity

Tribal exclusivity is a common sticking point in sports wagering legislation across the country, and the same is true in Arizona, where 16 federally-recognized tribes have sole rights to offer casino gaming to residents of and guests to the state.

Under SB 1163, sports betting would be exclusively administered by the Arizona tribes already licensed to offer gaming products. This was true for the initial version of the bill as well, though things are now more palatable with the above geographical limitations added. The bill allows the tribes to own and operate sports betting kiosks, which will be placed in bars and other private venues throughout Arizona.

Tribal sports betting revenue will be taxed at a maximum rate of 6.75%.

SN 1163 does its best to expand sports wagering’s reach while maintaining this exclusivity, though only the bankrupt Navajo Nation supports the bill as it stands today. The other tribes vocally opposed the bill, with representatives concerned that the document undercuts their authority and removes their voices from the process.

However, Senator Borrelli assures all involved that this is not the case. Instead, the bill’s author describes the measure as a means to legalize sports betting so that the state can then formally enter into tribal negotiations about how best to implement the new product.

Hopefully, this clarification will give the bill enough of a boost to make it past both state chambers.