Washington sports betting bills introduced amid legal challenge to tribes
New legislation or recently-filed lawsuit could end tribal monopoly on sportsbooks
Expanded sports betting in Washington could be on the horizon in 2022, as the state’s House and Senate have each filed sports betting bills aimed at expanding legalized sportsbooks beyond tribal gaming interests.
The two pieces of proposed legislation have been rolled out concurrently to a complaint recently filed in federal court by Maverick Gaming challenging the current tribal monopoly on sports betting in Washington.
House Bill 1674 has been referred to the state’s House Commerce and Gaming Committee after being filed in late December and formally introduced on January 10. Senate Bill 5212 was originally introduced in January 2021 but never progressed out of the Committee on Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs.
The bill was reintroduced on January 10 2022.
Both bills seek to adjust the Revised Code of Washington (RVC) to permit cardrooms and racetracks in Washington to offer retail and online sports betting. As it stands, only the state’s tribes are allowed to operate sportsbooks.
More than a dozen have been running retail sportsbooks since September 2021, following federal approval to Washington’s amended tribal gaming compacts.
Maverick Gaming, which operates 19 of the state’s 44 licensed cardrooms, is arguing that the compact amendments are inconsistent with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) because they granted a sports betting monopoly to the tribes.
In essence, Maverick believes it’s being unjustly thwarted from a seat at the sportsbook operator table.
If either HB1674 or SB5212 were to pass and be signed into law in the 2022 legislative session, Maverick Gaming and other similar operators would be able to begin offering sports betting pending licensure, which would include an initial fee of $100,000 and an additional renewal fee every five years.
Maverick’s suit, meanwhile, is being led by Ted Olson, who notably represented New Jersey in the 2018 Supreme Court case that ultimately led to PASPA being struck down.