• 5 July 2021

The Arizona Department of Gaming which is the gaming regulator in the state of Arizona has surprised the market by coming out with a new set of draft regulations that look to double the number of mobile sportsbooks in the state. The gaming regulator released the new set of draft regulations on 02 July and has will collect feedback on 07 July regarding the proposed changes.

Double The Number of Mobile Sportsbooks

While some states have been hesitant on giving mobile betting a free hand, Arizona has decided to go all in. The new regulations will give betting operators the option to have two mobile skins or betting platforms provided they run on the same hardware platform. This is a big change from the initial draft regulations that was put forward and comes as a surprise to commercial operators.

The new regulations will hand out a total of 20 betting operator licenses which includes up to two mobile betting skins and one brick and mortar location. The 20 betting licenses will be split with 10 going to tribal gaming operators and the other 10 going to betting franchise and sports venues.

If these new proposed betting regulations get approval, it will open the way for big brands like Caesars and FanDuel to establish a major presence in the Arizona betting market as these operators have multiple brands. Caesars controls brands like William Hill and Harrah’s while FanDuel’s parent company Flutter operates multiple brands such as Fox Bet, Betfair and Paddy Power.

Betting Fees and Taxes

Arizona is being liberal with its mobile betting policy as it wants to bring in as much revenue as possible from the sports betting market. New Jersey has shown that its mobile betting dominates its betting revenues when compared to retail and online betting. The Arizona Department of Gaming has also stated that it will impose a betting tax rate of 10 percent on mobile gaming and 8 percent for retail wagering.

Betting operators who are interested in launching in Arizona will have to pay a license application fee of $100,000. If the license application is approved, they will have to pay a further $750,000 to obtain the license and another $150,000 to renew their license at the end of each year.

The betting fees for operators who have a limited betting license such as horse tracks who can only offer retail betting is very low. They will need to pay a $5,000 application fee, another $25,000 to obtain the license if approved and $5,000 to renew their license. The plan is to get sports betting up and running by Sep 9 which is when the NFL season starts.