By Ryan Randazzo | Arizona Republic
Legal sports gambling in Arizona is expected to draw more than $3 billion a year in bets and generate more than $200 million a year in revenue for sportsbooks once the market is fully up and running, according to an estimate from a national analyst.
Sportsbooks could launch in Arizona this year thanks to a bill the state Legislature passed on Monday that Gov. Doug Ducey is expected to sign into law. Legal sports betting can then start in the state once the U.S. secretary of the Interior approves new tribal gaming compacts that are tied to the sports-betting law.
Plans for sportsbooks in the state already are getting drawn up.
Arizona should be a booming market for sports betting, according to national analysts, because the legislation has several key elements, notably mobile betting.
“The big thing you want to see in any legislation is statewide mobile betting,” said Eric Ramsey, a national analyst for the PlayUSA.com network who calculated financial estimates for the state. “You can get away with a lot of small ‘mistakes’ in a bill as long as you have a robust mobile framework.”
