BlueBet Secures Market Access for Online Sports Betting in Arizona
BlueBet’s wholly-owned subsidiary BlueBet Arizona LLC has entered into an exclusive agreement with the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) and BlueWater Resort & Casino, a wholly-owned instrumentality of the CRIT to pursue online sports betting market access in Arizona.
Online sports betting in Arizona was legalized in April 2021 by Governor Doug Ducey with an expected launch date of 9 September 2021, to coincide with the start of the NFL season. The Sports Wagering Act allows up to 20 Sportsbooks to operate in Arizona, with these licenses being split between professional sports teams/sites and the state’s tribal casinos.
Bill Richmond, CEO of BlueBet, said: “We’re very excited to be announcing this agreement within two months of BlueBet’s IPO. We see Arizona as a fantastic next step for BlueBet in the US. The opportunity is particularly advantageous because Arizona is such an unpenetrated market, with no existing operators despite it being a state of sports fanatics.
“Arizona’s population is twice that of Iowa, where we have our first US skin and where the sports betting market is estimated to have gaming revenue worth more than a billion US dollars per year, so this agreement represents a significant escalation in our push into the US.
“We hadn’t originally considered Arizona as a first mover state in our US expansion but our strategy in the US is to be continuously proactively seeking out new opportunities like this to grow our footprint swiftly to take full advantage of this unique green field prospect.
“We will look to continue to build on this momentum as we seek market access in more US states and move to our B2B Sportsbook-as-a-Solution model long term.”
