'It's the wave of the future': Sports betting in Indian Country

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians debuted sports betting on August 30, 2018. Photo: MBCI

A landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision opened the door for tribes and states to offer sports betting and Dave Palermo has an update on recent developments in Indian Country.

Writing for Global Gaming Magazine, Palermo reports that the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is the only tribe with a sports book in the wake of the ruling. But other tribes across the country are interested, according to tribal and state officials.

“You have to concede that’s a transition that is going to happen, eventually,” says Chris Stearns, a citizen of the Navajo Nation who serves on the Washington State Gambling Commission told Palermo for the in-depth story. “It’s the wave of the future.”

So far, only Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi and West Virginia have joined Nevada with live sports betting. Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and New York have passed laws to do the same though operations are not yet up and running at this point.

"As states and sovereign tribal nations bring sports betting out of the shadows, we can expect these many aforementioned benefits to grow while also beginning to eradicate the illegal market," an official with the American Gaming Association will tell members of Congress at a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

Though tribes are not subject to state law, their ability to offer sports betting is linked to state law and to their Class III gaming compacts. So some tribes are waiting to see what happens at the state level.

“We’ll explore all our options,” John Apacki, the general manager for the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel, owned and operated by the Meskwaki Nation in Iowa, told Palermo.

But others do not need to wait on the state. That's the case with the Spirit Lake Nation, whose gaming compact with North Dakota authorizes sports betting in the event the Supreme Court addressed the issue, Palermo reported. The tribe is considering a small operation at its Spirit Lake Casino & Resort.

Read More on the Story

Dave Palermo: Westward Ho (Global Gaming Magazine September 26, 2018)
Federal hearing on sports betting to occur Thursday (The Las Vegas Review-Journal September 26, 2018)

House Committee on the Judiciary Notice

Hearing: Post-PASPA: An Examination of Sports Betting in America (September 27, 2018) $P

A New Era: Sports Betting

Indianz.Com on SoundCloud: Christie v. National Collegiate Athletic Association- U.S. Supreme Court - December 4, 2017

U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Murphy v. NCAA

Syllabus | Opinion | Concurrence [Thomas] | Concurrence / Dissent [Breyer] | Dissent [Ginsburg]

Supreme Court Documents

Oral Argument Transcript: Christie v. NCAA / New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Inc. v. NCAA (December 4, 2017)

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