Washington-based Muckleshoot Casino is now the official casino of NHL Seattle and Oak View Group-operated KeyArena, where it "will have a luxury suite, be the named sponsor of all power plays during hockey games and also have signage advertising its expanded gaming and resort amenities," according to Geoff Baker of the SEATTLE TIMES. Muckleshoot Casino GM Conrad Granito said that the arrangement will "help inform sports fans and concert-goers about its ongoing resort property expansion -- including a new events center and 400-room hotel -- with a projected completion date aligned with KeyArena's planned reopening in mid-2021." Granito also said the NHL Seattle partnership "could facilitate a future sports-betting arrangement." Muckleshoot "plans a separate deal -- though more on the tribal side than its money-making casino arm -- with the Seahawks to be announced next week." The Seahawks already have a sponsorship agreement with the Snoqualmie Casino "allowing use of the team's logo for promotions, while the Mariners have one with Emerald Queen Casino to sponsor its pocket schedule and assorted merchandise." Washington has "some of the nation's strictest anti-gaming laws," and sports betting there is illegal. But a bill that was sponsored in the state legislature last winter is "calling for professional and college sports gambling to be allowed within tribal gaming facilities" (SEATTLE TIMES, 10/31).
