Washington State appears poised to become one of, if not the next to legalize sports betting for their citizens. After some exhaustive negotiations, The Washington State Gambling Commission on Thursday approved the language surrounding new rules and regulations for 15 tribal gaming compacts necessary to take the next step toward broad legalization of a sports betting platform for the state.
Washington is currently 13th in terms of population among US states. Legalization of sports betting will bring in an estimated 7.6 million citizens into the legal wagering fold and scratch yet another medium-tier state off the list of sought-after destinations for sportsbooks within the broader US scene.
Governor Jay Inslee originally signed a legal sports betting bill into law in March 2020, but this week was the first in which the reality of such a platform really came into focus.
The Washington State Gambling Commission on Thursday voted 7-0 in favor of the new tribal compact drafts which allows the process of legal sports betting to take the next steps toward ultimate legalization.
What Comes Next
There are still a few steps necessary before the state of Washington can declare themselves part of the US legal sports betting family. Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature is required for the expanded compacts, the Tribal Chair in Washington still needs to agree to the terms and finally the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) will still have to approve the language of the new compacts as laid out by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
It isn’t only signatures that will be necessary for legal sports betting to go ahead in Washington. Draft rules will have to be published, which they are expected to be by July 7, and then there is a public consultation period in which citizens will have their say on the potential platform. A date of July 28 has been mentioned as a date to have all of this accomplished.
What It Means for Washington’s Tribes
The potential new gaming compact between the Washington government and the state’s tribes is a big deal. 15 of the 25 federally recognized tribes in the state are in line to open up their own legal sportsbooks as soon as all if the “I’s” are dotted and the “T’s” are crossed.
Retail sportsbooks being hosted by the Tulalip, Suquamish, Kalispel, Snoqualmie, Colville, Cowlitz, Jamestown S’Kallam, Lummi, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Shoalwater Bay, Spokane, Squaxin Island, Stillaguamish, and Swinomish tribes will likely be launched immediately and each of those tribes will gain the right to open up a mobile sports betting platform as well as a retail sportsbook.
Right now, any mobile bets in Washington will be confined to tribal lands.
What It Means to Washington Bettors
The Washington Gaming Commission (WGC) will regulate both a retail and mobile sports betting platform for the state. Bettors in Washington will gain the right to legally bet on pro sports from across the globe, college sports (excluding in-state teams) international sports including the Olympics and eSports.
While ultimately hosting a mobile betting platform, Washington regulators have opted for a couple of head-scratching rules for their internet-based platform. Like Illinois and Nevada, there is a somewhat restrictive in-person registration requirement. Remote sign-up registration has proven to be the far more effective procedure and has allowed states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Indiana to maintain dominant mobile scenes.
Timeframe
If all goes well with the acceptance process of the new tribal compacts, and the U.S. Department of the Interior does indeed sign off on the new drafted within the 45-day allotted period, Washington bettors could be throwing down on their favorite teams by the end of the year.
Like every state that has legalized before Washington and like all jurisdictions that are presently in the process of allowing sports to their societies, the start of the NFL season is the unofficial goal for launch
Calculators
