Phoenix Rising in Arizona wants sports betting license
More sports betting could soon come to Arizona, and one sports team is hoping the second time is the charm when applying for a betting license.
Phoenix Rising FC will "absolutely" apply for an event wagering license, after it was denied one when the licenses were first available in 2021.
“We have solved or corrected a few of the issues that we had with our first application,” Bill Kraus, club governor for Phoenix Rising, said.
The Arizona Department of Gaming announced it will award three new event wagering licenses, two for Arizona sports franchises and one for an Arizona tribe. The state has 20 total licenses, 10 for sports teams and 10 for tribes, and has awarded eight to teams.
Kraus said Phoenix Rising does not have a betting partner selected yet but will choose one for its sportsbook.
When the soccer team was first denied, Kraus said there was some discussion at the time whether the team qualified as playing “at the highest level” of the sport, which is a requirement in the law to get an event wagering license.
Kraus said the team now feels it meets the requirement, as it is the highest level of men’s soccer in Arizona, and the team has aspirations to become a Major League Soccer team. However, Kraus said he does not think the license should depend on the team becoming a major league team.
Phoenix Rising had also played at a stadium on the Gila River Indian Community, which also could have affected the team’s application for a license, Kraus said. Now, the team plays in central Phoenix.
Women's soccer also could pursue license
A new team, at the highest level, also will join the ranks of Arizona professional sports teams, and could possibly also apply for a license. A new women's soccer league, called the USL Super League, is launching next year, to rival the National Women's Soccer League, or NWSL. Unlike the NWSL, the Super League will follow the international play calendar.
In May, the Rising’s ownership group announced Phoenix was among several cities included in the initial launch of the new women’s professional, Division I soccer league. The women’s team, which does not yet have a name, will start play in August 2024, and will share an ownership group with the Rising.
With the addition of the women’s team, Kraus said it is possible the ownership group could apply for both available licenses, similar to the structure of the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury, which share an owner but have individual sports betting licenses.
Bettors using mobile sports betting apps or placing wagers at a sportsbook can already wager on the Rising, but Kraus said right now the apps and partnerships in Arizona aren’t necessarily geared toward soccer fans.
“There is some overlap, of course, there are general sports fans, but both soccer and women’s sports are underrepresented now,” he said.
Max Hartgraves, spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Gaming, said any Arizona entity that believes it meets the requirements for a professional sports franchise is welcome to apply for the licenses. The licenses allow teams to have a physical sportsbook location, as well as a partnership on the mobile betting app.
All tribal licenses were awarded, but one became available when one tribe stopped participating.
A Department of Gaming spokesperson declined to name the tribe that was awarded a license but not using it, but the Ak-Chin Indian Community, which received one, is no longer listed as a license holder on the department’s website. The Ak-Chin community's mobile betting partner, Fubo Sportsbook, a subsidiary of Fubo TV, shut down its sports betting arm in October 2022.
All of Arizona’s gaming tribes are allowed to operate a sportsbook in facilities on tribal land. The awarding of the license also allows them to operate a mobile betting app.
The application window for the new licenses will open August 1 and close August 15.
