After a temporary hitch, Arizona launched its legal sports betting market on September 9th. Several operators, including BetMGM and DraftKings went live on the release date, allowing players to bet on sports.
At the last minute, and just before the September 9th launch date, the Yavapai Prescott announced that they were pursuing a legal challenge of the market. However, their request was denied by the Maricopa County Superior Court and Arizona was open for business.
The Arizona Department of Gaming issued a number of licenses to sports betting operators.
State gambling laws dictate that operators are only allowed to offer gambling through sites that are owned by major league sports teams and/or professional sports organizations. To meet these requirements, DraftKings expanded its partnership with the golfing PGA Tour.
“The PGA Tour is excited for the launch of mobile sports betting in Arizona as a major step forward as we look to advance audience development and fan engagement opportunities,” said PGA Tour’s senior vice president of media and gaming, Norb Gambuzza.
Also commenting was the co-founder and president of North America DraftKings, Matt Kalish.
“With the launch of our digital sportsbook coinciding with NFL kickoff, the busiest and most exciting time of the year for our company, we could not have imagined a better time to introduce Arizona’s sports fans to the DraftKings experience,” he said
