An Arizona-based National Hockey League franchise is hoping to maintain its mobile sports wagering operations at their interim Arizona State University venue while construction on their new arena is underway. This plan, however, has encountered an obstacle. Arizona regulations stipulate that a location must accommodate 10,000 spectators to provide mobile betting services. The ASU facility has a capacity of only 5,000. The team believed they had found a solution with a recent state statute permitting an exclusively online license. However, the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, in conjunction with multiple tribal entities, is contesting this understanding of the legislation. The team’s legal counsel, Andrew Diss, expressed his frustration, stating, “Pose the same inquiry to ten different attorneys, and you’ll receive ten distinct responses…It doesn’t instill confidence in our ability to retain our online gaming license upon relocating to a facility with a capacity below 10,000. That’s the crux of the matter.”
Legal representatives for the Arizona Gaming Association are resisting the Phoenix Coyotes’ efforts to modify the state’s gaming regulations, claiming it weakens agreements reached with Indigenous American tribes only a year ago.
Bradley Bledsoe Downs, acting on behalf of the association, stressed that the Coyotes’ suggested alterations essentially dismantle the tribes’ sole rights to gambling in Arizona. This exclusive right, he contends, was a crucial element of the agreement negotiated among the tribes, professional sports organizations, and their respective teams.
“Revisiting and amending that understanding now, less than twelve months later, simply to rectify a situation of their own creation… is not something this group should be involved in,” Downs declared, emphasizing the injustice of requesting revisions so soon after a significant agreement was secured.
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