Native American tribes "enthusiastically welcomed" the Supreme Court's decision in May on sports betting, but since then, the "regulatory challenges and low-margin nature of the business have sunk in," according to Regina Garcia Cano of the AP. To offer sports betting, the majority of tribes would have to "renegotiate compacts that vary widely in cycles and the issues covered, though some tribes believe their existing agreements already give them the right to offer the new wagers." A sports book owned by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians was the "first to open on tribal lands outside of Nevada" following the SCOTUS ruling. After that, only the Santa Ana Pueblo tribe near Albuquerque "followed the Choctaw's effort into sports gambling." Neither tribe was "required to obtain additional state approvals." There are roughly 475 casinos operated by nearly 240 tribes across the U.S. (AP, 12/26).
JUMPING ON THE BANDWAGON: The AP's Matthew Barakat reported some Virginia state legislators are "advancing three different bills" to start sports wagering. West Virginia has enacted sports gambling, and it is "perhaps no coincidence that all three proposals advanced so far come from lawmakers in northern Virginia, where the effect is most evident" when gamblers leave the state to "spend cash at casinos in West Virginia and Maryland, where casinos are in place but sports wagering has yet to be approved." Virginia is "one of a handful of states that still forbids casino gambling, though the state has taken baby steps down that road by allowing Colonial Downs racetrack to install machines that allow wagering on previously run horse races that, as a practical matter, mimics slot-machine style gambling." But sports wagering legislation will face opposition in Virginia as the Family Foundation, a conservative group with a "strong lobbying presence before the General Assembly," is opposed. Meanwhile, a "key issue is whether to allow betting on collegiate sports, particularly in Virginia, as the state has no major professional sports teams." All three Virginia proposals "limit collegiate gambling to some extent (AP, 12/26).
LEAVE IT TO THE STATES: A Walla Walla UNION-BULLETIN editorial states that a bill introduced earlier this month from U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that would have the Justice Department set minimum standards for states to offer sports betting is a "waste of time" and "unnecessary." Sports betting is "here to stay," and regulating it at the state level "makes sense." It is "just not something the federal government needs to concern itself with any longer" (Walla Walla UNION-BULLETIN, 12/27).
