Coyotes Supporting Gambling Law Change Ahead Of Tempe Move

PHOENIX, AZ —With less than a month left as a tenant in the Gila River Arena in Glendale, the Arizona Coyotes are making news off the ice — in the Arizona State Legislature.

The NHL team is due to play at Arizona State's new 5,000-seat arena in Tempe for at least the next three seasons.

However, according to the Associated Press, the Coyotes have expressed fears that the 2021 law that legalized sports betting in Arizona will prevent the franchise from running its mobile sports betting operation while in Tempe, unless the current law is amended.

According to the current law —which was part of a complex deal the Arizona Indian Gaming Association negotiated with Gov. Doug Ducey —professional sports teams are allowed to run retail sportsbooks and mobile gambling operations only in facilities with a seating capacity of at least 10,000.

The Coyotes support amending the law to cover ASU's 5,000-seat arena, and a last-minute measure to change the existing legislation was approved Tuesday by the Arizona Senate's appropriations committee.

Coyotes spokesman Andrew Diss testified for the proposal, saying the team is not sure if a change to the legislation is necessary, but that the franchise does not want to get caught without its mobile gambling revenue stream. Diss said the team is not planning to open a retail gambling operation at ASU.

"When you ask 10 different attorneys the same question, you get 10 different answers,'' Diss said. "That does not give us a sense of comfort that we're going to be able to maintain our online gaming license if we move to a facility with less than 10,000 people. That is what this comes down to.''

But, according to the AP, the Arizona Indian Gaming Association and multiple Native American tribes oppose the amendment, arguing that a newish law should not be changed just to accommodate the Coyotes, who were forced to leave Glendale after the city refused to extend the team's lease at Gila River Arena.

"(The existing law) was a compromise by the tribes and the professional leagues and teams, and to go back and change that understanding, especially less than a year later, for something that is really self-created ... shouldn't land at this body to address,'' Bradley Bledsoe Downes, an attorney representing the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, told the committee.

Supporters of the amendment said the Coyotes deserve the change because of the revenue their presence in Tempe will generate for ASU and the local community. Plus, the hockey team already has agreed to pay $19.7 million for upgrades to the arena in order to make the building NHL-ready.

State Sen. Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu City) called the tribe's opposition to the amendment "ridiculous," according to the AP.

"To see this, this opposition from the tribe, is really upsetting because this does not negatively affect the tribes one iota. None. Zero,'' Borrelli said. "It's moving from one location to the other, and it's temporary.''

The Coyotes plan to play at ASU for three years, and possibly a fourth, while the team develops a $1.7 billion arena and entertainment district on 46 acres in Tempe, near Priest Drive and Rio Salado Parkway.