It took them a few years to get themselves set up, but yes, as of 2021, sports betting is legal in Arizona. That means you can bet on MLS games in the Grand Canyon State.
Their legal set up is an interesting one, with a limited number of sports betting licensing on offer and a bit of push and pull between the Native American tribes and professional sports organisations and their bookmaking partners. However, Arizonans are clearly fans of sports betting in general, with around $8 billion worth of bets taken in 2024 and rising fast.
Here is everything there is to know about sports betting in Arizona, especially on Major League Soccer.
Gambling History: It Used to be the Wild West
Arizona didn’t even become a state until 1912, so it was literally part of the Wild West before then. As in, the state where Wyatt Earp lived, in Tombstone. Where the Gunfight at the O.K Corral took place. Gambling was allowed here because pretty much anything was allowed here.
Around the time statehood was achieved, morality campaigns that were sweeping the nation reached Arizona, and there was a crackdown on anything considered to be sinful. Gambling was included in this, and outlawed. So Arizona went from a lawless land with zero regulation to a prohibitionist state in a fairly short space of time.
As the years went on, strictly controlled gambling activities began to creep back in. For example, in 1935 parimutuel betting was legalized with the establishment of the Arizona Racing Commission. This meant people could bet on regulated horse racing and dog racing (although dog racing was banned again in 2016). A state lottery began in 1981 after it was voted through via a constitutional amendment. Then, in 1988, Indian Gaming Regulatory Act came in, allowing Native American tribes to open bingo halls and casinos on their land under sovereign rights, despite pushback from state officials.
There was still no sports betting allowed, though, other than parimutuel wagers on the horses at racetracks. Even daily fantasy sports – which occupied a legal grey area in other states – were prohibited in Arizona. When the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection act (PASPA) was enacted in 1992, it made sure things would stay this way. Since Major League Soccer didn’t begin until 1996, it mean not a single MLS bet was placed on Arizonan soil for over 20 years.
Sports Betting Legalized
Over time, public opinion on gambling has softened across most of America, and Arizona is included in that.
PASPA was repealed by the Supreme Court in 2018, allowing each state to regulate sports betting on their own terms. In Arizona, they approached the idea of legalizing sports betting a few times unsuccessfully:
- 2019 – Bills were introduced in both the Arizona House and Senate to legalize sports betting. However, these proposals failed to gain significant traction.
- 2020 – Renewed efforts saw a House bill pass, but it was never brought to a full vote, and the Senate counterpart stalled in committee.
It always seemed like a matter of time, though, and sure enough, in 2021, there was a breakthrough when House Bill 2772 was introduced by representative, Jeff Weninger.
The House passed the bill with a 48-12 vote in favour, the Senate approved it with a 23-6 vote in favour, and just 3 months after it was introduced, the bill was signed into law by Governor Doug Ducey.
Sports betting was now legal in Arizona, although it wasn’t launched until September 2021, to coincide with the start of the NFL season.
The state limited the number of licenses it would issue to 20: 10 for tribal casinos and 10 for professional sports organisations. These could then partner with online sports betting providers to create an online betting market as well as a retail element. For example, FanDuel partnered with the Phoenix Suns, a basketball team, and DraftKings partnered with TPC Scottsdale, a PGA Tour venue. There is no MLS club in the Grand Canyon State, but if there was, they would likely have applied for one of the licenses, too.
In the first 3 months, Arizona’s sports betting industry took over $1 billion in bets, with the state taking 10% in tax from operators. Bearing in mind the population of Arizona is a little over 7.5 million, that’s a tidy sum!
MLS Clubs in Arizona
As I mentioned above, Arizona doesn’t have an MLS club of its own.
The state’s biggest soccer club, Phoenix Rising FC, has made efforts to join the league as an expansion club, but has so far been overlooked in favour of clubs elsewhere. However, it consistently ticks many of the boxes required for expansion, such as a new soccer specific stadium, solid support in a city with a booming population, on-field success, stable finances, etc., so it could still happen.
As it stands, the closest MLS clubs to Arizona are LA Galaxy, LAFC and San Diego FC, but it would take a minimum of 9 hours in a car to get from the closest of them to Arizona state lines. Real Salt Lake are in Utah, another neighbouring state, but again, the club is far away from Arizonan state lines. So there’s no reason for Arizonans to support any specific MLS club, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested. MLS reams even visit pre-season to play in the Visit Tucson Sun Cup.
hat said, since Arizona borders Mexico, some residents may prefer to follow a team from Liga MX rather than Major League Soccer. Club Tijuana is based in Baja California, but most Mexican clubs are located much deeper into the country.
Whether someone in Arizona supports an MLS club or not though, they can still bet on soccer be it Major League, USL, Liga MX, or anything else.