By Ryan Randazzo | Arizona Republic
In a deal that highlights warming relations between college sports and legal gambling, the Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl are partnering with Caesars Entertainment to allow the Las Vegas company to sponsor events tied to the football games played in Arizona.
Fiesta Bowl is a community organization behind the bowl games and other events, including the Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl Parade.
Caesars will host lounges at the stadiums where the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl are played and lend its name to pregame parties and a kickoff luncheon that raise money for the organization. Financial details were not disclosed.
Caesars already plans a sportsbook in Arizona at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and also the venue for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, and like several other entities it has applied for a sportsbook license from the state.
Legislation passed this year allows for sportsbooks at Native American casinos and professional sports venues in Arizona. The state is following the lead of several others that have legalized sports betting following a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2018 that struck down a ban on such betting outside Nevada and a few other states.
The NCAA fought unsuccessfully to uphold the ban on sports gambling, and remains opposed to wagering on sports.
