Public Gaming International Gaming July/August 2021

49 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021 States race to launch multi-billion-dollar sports betting for NFL season Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia are set to go, and nine more are working on it as fast as they can. The goal is to be ready for the Sept. 9 kick-off day for the National Football League. The floodgates that blocked sports betting opened three years ago with a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court ruling, sparking a gold rush worth billions. Sports betting platforms such as DraftKings, FanDuel, William Hill and the like are competing to make deals in various states to grab as much market share as they can as the industry rapidly expands. DraftKings alone is on track to gross $2.9 billion to $4.3 billion a year when sports betting reaches “maturity,” defined as 65 percent of the U.S. population having legal access to it, according to DraftKings’ report to investors in March. Indian gaming and sports betting Gambling interests in Florida are holding their breath as they wait for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to say whether they may proceed under the federal Indian Gam- ing Regulatory Act, or IGRA, with mobile sports betting as proposed by the state and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. At the end of last year, the BIA was regulating gambling for 245 tribes in 29 states, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission. At earliest, Florida would commence sports betting Oct. 15, based on state legislation, though the state of play by then in terms of anticipated litigation is anybody’s guess. Florida, Arizona and Connecticut are among the 29 states that conduct gambling in conjunction with Native American tribes, and they are racing to cash in on NFL sports betting this season. Circumstances vary from state to state. For example, Florida has two federally designated tribes — the Seminoles and the Miccosukee — while Arizona has 22. California, the largest U.S. market that does not allow sports betting, has 75 gaming tribes. Does Arizona decision show the BIA’s hand? In Arizona, gambling regulators are working overtime to get sports-betting regulations in place in time to legalize sports betting on NFL games. The BIA’s approval on May 24 covers 19 tribal compacts that authorize online/mobile sports betting, with 10 licenses reserved for professional sports teams and 10 for tribes. That Arizona decision would seem to bode well for Florida winning approval to offer mobile sports betting, classified as “class III” gaming. Here is what the BIA said about Arizona’s new gaming compacts, in part: “The 2021 compact expands the scope of class III games the Tribe may offer on its Indian lands, including in-person and mobile sports betting and fantasy sports,” says the May 24 decision issued by Bryan Newland, new head of the BIA, which is now headed by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Both officials are Native Americans. “The 2021 Compact additionally expands the scope of non-exclusive class III games the Tribe may offer to include on-reser- vation, in-person and mobile sports betting and fantasy sports wagering, while carving out limited exceptions for state lottery, off-reservation fantasy sports, and state- licensed sports betting.” Louisiana Gov. Edwards signs sports wagering bill into law The governor’s signature caps off the legislative process for sports betting in Louisiana, which voters approved in November 2020. It will be legal in the 55 of 64 parishes that voted in favor of sports betting. The bill allows the 15 licensed casinos in the state to serve as a home base for it. It allows the four racetracks in the state to use a license. And then it also allows one land-based casino in New Orleans. The state also approved mobile gaming partners to go along with those 20 licenses. Maine Sports Betting Bill Moves to Governor for Signature Maine’s sports betting bill, LD 1352, finds itself on the desk of Gov. Janet Mills for her approval. Mills can now either sign the bill into law, veto the bill, or choose not to sign the document. If she chooses to neither sign nor veto the bill by the fourth day of the special leg- islative session, the bill will automatically become a law. The bill, if approved, will allow statewide legalization of sports betting and will require online sports betting opera- tors to be tethered with either of the two existing Maine casinos, one racetrack, five OTBs and potentially Maine’s four Native American tribes. Massachusetts Lawmakers renew push for legalized sports betting In June, the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Commit- tee on Economic Development and Emerging Technolo- gies heard testimony on two dozen proposals to authorize sports wagering, and how to tax and regulate what is expected to be a multimillion-dollar industry. Under one plan, sports betting would be regulated by the state Gaming Commission, and operators would be taxed at 15% for retail and online sales. Operators would be required to pay an application fee of $10 million, while five-year gaming licenses would cost $1.25 million. SPORTS BETTING NEWS