Arizona sports betting: Best AZ sports betting sites

How Arizona sports betting came to be

Online betting might have a long and storied history in the United States, but it’s been categorized as a nefarious and illegal black market for the majority of that time. Over time, though, the public and legal perspectives on sports betting have slowly shifted towards acceptance.

As with many other states, ours has joined the ranks that allow Arizona sports betting. It wasn’t an easy road to legalization, though. After many years of debate and a few legal setbacks, September 2021 marked the first time in Arizona history that residents could legally sign up for Arizona sports gambling.

Let’s look at how we got here and explore the many ups and downs that happened along the way.

Legalization at the federal level for Arizona sports gambling

If you’ve been following Arizona sports gambling, you’ve probably noticed that a lot of states have legalized online sports gambling over the past two or three years.

While it may seem like a coincidence that these states decided to shift their policies simultaneously, it all started at the federal level. In 1992, the United States legislature effectively banned online sports gambling when they passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.

Although the act laid out provisions for online bookies to operate in a few states, the overwhelming majority of the country was barred from allowing sports betting within their territories. This changed in 2018 when New Jersey attempted to work around the law, thus throwing it into the public eye.

Their challenge rose to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act prevented state legislatures from mandating their betting regulations. After overturning the law, states were given the green light to draft their own legislation, effectively opening the door for legal Arizona sports gambling.

An uphill battle toward legalization

Although the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act had been overturned in 2018, it wasn’t until 2019 that the Arizona legislature began debating whether to legalize AZ online sports gambling sites. At first, the proposition to legalize online sports gambling in Arizona faced a lot of opposition from tribes throughout the state.

Local tribes feared that legalizing AZ online sports gambling would create competition against their own gambling operations. However, this all began to change in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed local tourist revenues.

Because there were not enough travelers coming to Arizona, tribes and the state legislature realized that legalizing AZ sports betting could create a new revenue stream and keep their economies afloat.

A single typo almost ruined the legalization

Even still, the movement towards legalizing AZ online sports gambling sites was a slow and grinding process from one committee to another. Once a bill finally reached the state Senate, it seemed as if Arizona congressmen were prepared to legalize Arizona sports betting when things suddenly came to a halt over a minor typo.

Initially, legislators planned to provide every professional sports team with either their own mobile sports betting apps in Arizona platform or an online betting license. This also included the PGA Golf Tour’s Scottsdale venue and the Phoenix Raceway, where NASCAR hosts biannual races.

However, the bill originally allowed “collector car auctions” with 150 or more attendants to also apply for betting licenses, which in turn, is different for AZ sports betting in general.

This would mean that any bar or venue in the state could host a “collector car auction” and apply for AZ sports gambling site licenses. This wasn’t the legislators’ intention, though, so they quickly adjusted the number, realizing that they’d meant to type 150,000 attendants.

Unfortunately, that single typo caused a delay and sent shudders through the local tribal communities who already felt that they would lose customers.

The final push toward legalization

The constant push and pull between tribal leaders and non-tribal senators kept the bill at an impasse for more than a few weeks. One senator proposed expanding the reach of all gambling regulations, which caused many tribal leaders to oppose the legislation.

However, tribal senators knew that if they compromised just a little bit, they could also expand their markets. By the end of the debates, both the Governor and the tribal leaders reached an agreement and were able to draft legislation that suited both of their interests.

After months of back-and-forth, Governor Doug Ducey finally signed House Bill 2772 on April 15, 2021, thus legalizing registered Arizona sports wagering.

Sports betting in Arizona went smoothly for fans

After a lot of regulations and law-making, sports betting in Arizona is finally live. Many sports betting fans are happy, and the state has finalized the best sports betting bill for any state. AZ will always be a benchmark for other states on how they can move forward with legalizing sports betting in their respective state.