By Rose Law Group Reporter
The Arizona Coyotes are seeking to amend the state’s sports gambling law with a last-minute striker to ensure the team can continue to operate mobile event wagering when it moves into its temporary home at ASU, the Associated Press reported (LINK).
The law allowed tribes and sports franchises to operate sports book operations. The new proposal, a striker to Biasiucci’s H2456, drops a requirement that a team’s facility have at least 10,000 seats for teams that otherwise qualify for sports gambling licenses but are temporarily occupying a smaller space.
The Senate Appropriations Committee (appro) approved the striker yesterday on a 7-2 vote. The request comes after Glendale terminated the team’s lease to play at its old stadium. The Coyotes plan to build a new facility in Tempe but until that happens, it will share ASU’s 5,000-seat hockey arena (LINK). Bradley Bledsoe Downes, a lawyer for the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, told Senate appro no change to the law is necessary, arguing a team can still offer mobile betting if they move. He said the tribes are opposed to the proposed change, because they were not consulted, and it would mark a significant modification to the new law and compact they agreed to last year.
The Coyotes’ Andrew Diss told the committee the team only plans to operate mobile gambling while at the ASU campus and Biasiucci said he could make a floor amendment to remove retail betting from the bill. “It doesn’t make sense from a business point of view … for us to make an investment only for three years on a temporary retail facility when we have our big project that’s going to be going up in Tempe.”
But some legislators remained skeptical.
Bowie asked why the change wasn’t brought forward earlier. “So there’s been plenty of time to get ready for this and bring stakeholders in and one of our frustrations is it being brought at the 11th hour and not having time for that stakeholder process,” he said. However, Diss said the deal with ASU only received approval from the Board of Regents “about six weeks ago.”
A railbird suggested the team simply didn’t realize the move would jeopardize its betting license. “Typical Coyotes. Let’s move to a 5,000 seat arena! Oh f***, then we can’t have a sports book … From Alex Merulo to Xavier Gutierrez to their lobbyists, they are absolutely clueless,” the railbird said.
