Is sports betting legal in Arizona?
Yes, online and in person, for bettors 21 and older. Betting began on September 9, 2021, under HB 2772 and the amended tribal-state gaming compacts, both signed on April 15, 2021. The law allows up to 20 event wagering licenses, 10 for Arizona tribes and 10 for pro sports teams and venues, and the Arizona Department of Gaming regulates all of them.
Where you can bet
The Department of Gaming lists 12 live online sportsbooks as of September 2026: Bally Bet, bet365, betcris, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbook, Desert Diamond Sports, DraftKings, Fanatics Sportsbook, FanDuel, Hard Rock Bet and theScore Bet. Golden Nugget and Sporttrade are marked as having left the state. Circa Sports, the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe's designee, was allocated a license effective July 27, 2026, after a June 26 to July 10 application window, and it hasn't launched.
Retail books run at pro sports venues, within five blocks of the licensee's facility. Tribal licensees can offer mobile betting statewide. Nine limited licenses for Turf Paradise and off-track betting bars, all partnered with Caesars, are listed as not yet launched.
College games are on the board, but A.R.S. 5-1315 bars wagers on individual actions or team or player performance during a college game. Bets on the final outcome and on season awards are allowed.
The department's privilege fee is 10% of adjusted gross receipts for mobile bets and 8% for retail. Gov. Katie Hobbs's January 2026 budget proposed 45% for operators taking in $75 million or more a month, and the tier was left out of the final budget.
How Arizona legalized sports betting
Tribal gaming and Proposition 202 (1988 to 2020)
Arizona's criminal code, A.R.S. 13-3305, makes it a class 1 misdemeanor to run a business accepting bets on a sporting event, and A.R.S. 16-1015 separately makes election wagering a class 2 misdemeanor. Casino gaming came through the tribes. After Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988, Gov. Fife Symington argued reservations shouldn't have casinos, and in May 1992 FBI agents raided five tribal casinos and seized their slot machines. That same year a federal judge ruled in Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe v. Arizona that the state had to negotiate, and Symington signed compacts with 16 tribes from 1992 to 1994.
When those compacts neared expiration, Gov. Jane Hull and 17 tribes agreed on new terms, but the Legislature failed to approve them in 2002. The tribes took the deal to voters as Proposition 202, which passed in November 2002 with 50.87% while Propositions 200 and 201 failed. Prop 201, backed by racetracks, would have put slot machines at tracks. Prop 202 limited Class III gaming to tribal land and required tribes to share 1% to 8% of gross gaming income with the state. Under the 1998 Voter Protection Act, the Legislature can amend a voter-approved law only with a three-fourths vote of each chamber, and only if the change furthers the measure's purpose.
HB 2772 and the 2021 compact amendments
Gov. Doug Ducey and tribal leaders signed amended compacts at the Heard Museum on April 15, 2021, after more than five years of talks. The amendments added craps, roulette and baccarat, raised slot limits and authorized sports wagering and fantasy contests on tribal land. Ducey signed HB 2772 (Laws 2021, Chapter 234) the same day. It passed the House 48-12 and the Senate 23-6, above the three-fourths line, and carried an emergency clause.
The law created Title 5, Chapter 11 on event wagering. A.R.S. 5-1304 limits non-tribal licenses to owners of Arizona pro teams, the operator of a PGA Tour venue and a NASCAR race promoter, or their designees. Tribal licenses go only to tribes that signed the 2021 compact. HB 2772 also legalized paid fantasy contests and electronic keno outside tribal casinos, and it set 21 as the minimum age. Under A.R.S. 5-1321, none of it took effect until every tribe with a casino in Pima County or metro Phoenix signed the amendment and the Interior Department's approval was published. That publication came on May 24, 2021.
Launch and changes since 2021
On August 27, 2021, the department allocated event wagering licenses to 10 tribes and 8 teams or organizations. The fantasy provisions took effect the next day, betting opened on September 9, and eight books were live by the end of that month. Turf Paradise got the first limited license in January 2022. The department reopened license windows as operators left: TwinSpires, Fubo Sportsbook and Unibet all exited, leaving the Tonto Apache Tribe, Ak-Chin Indian Community and Quechan Tribe to find new partners. The window after the May 27, 2026 announcement produced Circa, and a separate window for up to 10 limited retail licenses was set to open on August 13, 2026.
Sports betting court cases in Arizona
Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe v. Ducey (2021 to 2022)
The Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe, one of two tribes that hadn't signed the 2021 compact, sued Ducey and Department of Gaming Director Ted Vogt in Maricopa County Superior Court on August 26, 2021 (No. CV2021-013497). It argued HB 2772 violated the Voter Protection Act by letting non-tribal entities offer gaming reserved to tribes by Prop 202, and that it was a special law favoring compact signers and teams. Judge James Smith denied a preliminary injunction on September 6, finding the tribe hadn't shown the law likely violated its rights. The tribe amended its complaint, and the Tonto Apache Tribe and the Quechan Tribe moved to intervene to defend the compacts. The parties settled, and Judge Timothy Ryan approved a stipulated dismissal with prejudice on July 29, 2022, and the tribe gained access to sports wagering, fantasy contests and table games on its land through a compact amendment effective July 26, 2022.
TP Racing v. Arizona Department of Gaming (2021)
Turf Paradise's owner sued in August 2021 after the department denied its application, arguing the racetrack counted as a sports franchise. Judge Smith ruled in September that he lacked authority to override the department. In late October the Court of Appeals declined jurisdiction, and an administrative law judge and the director upheld the denial of a full license.
KalshiEX v. Johnson and United States v. Arizona (2025 to 2026)
On May 21, 2025, the department's chief law enforcement officer, Douglas Jensen, told Kalshi its event wagering in Arizona was illegal, and sent similar letters to Robinhood and Crypto.com. Kalshi sued Attorney General Kris Mayes and Department of Gaming Director Jackie Johnson in federal court on March 12, 2026 (No. 2:26-cv-01715, D. Ariz.), claiming the Commodity Exchange Act preempts state law. On March 17, Mayes filed a 20-count criminal case against KalshiEX LLC and Kalshi Trading LLC in Maricopa County Superior Court: 16 class 1 misdemeanors for unlicensed wagering, including college and pro sports contracts, and 4 class 2 misdemeanors for election contracts. That day Judge Michael Liburdi denied Kalshi a temporary restraining order and ordered it to address Younger abstention.
The United States and the CFTC then sued Arizona (No. 2:26-cv-02246), and Liburdi consolidated the cases. He denied Kalshi's own injunction motion on April 8. Two days later he granted the CFTC a restraining order barring Arizona from enforcing A.R.S. 5-1301 et seq. against event contracts on CFTC-regulated exchanges. Crypto.com's derivatives arm, North American Derivatives Exchange, was allowed to intervene in late April. Liburdi converted the restraining order into a preliminary injunction on May 5, holding that Arizona's gambling laws "stand as an obstacle to federal regulation" and are preempted. Tribal amici filed in support of the state.
Kalshi appealed the April 8 denial (No. 26-2978), and the Ninth Circuit stayed that appeal on June 4 pending the Nevada cases. The district case has been stayed since May 18. Arizona appealed the injunction on July 6 (No. 26-4281), moved for summary disposition on September 14 and drew a CFTC response on September 24. The injunction remains in effect, and the criminal case is on hold.
Ninth Circuit rulings that bind Arizona
On August 28, 2026, a unanimous panel held in KalshiEX, LLC v. Assad (No. 25-7516) that Kalshi hadn't shown its sports contracts are likely "swaps" under the Commodity Exchange Act, so Nevada's gaming law likely isn't preempted. The panel affirmed the dissolution of Kalshi's injunction and sent election contracts back to the district court. That reasoning splits from the Third Circuit's ruling for Kalshi in New Jersey. Kalshi petitioned for rehearing en banc on September 9, and Robinhood asked the Supreme Court to review the decision. In Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi (No. 25-7504), decided September 16, the Ninth Circuit held that sports contracts placed from tribal land are Class III gaming under IGRA and that tribes can sue to stop them.
Prediction markets and daily fantasy
While the May 5 injunction stands, Arizona can't enforce its gambling laws against event contracts listed on CFTC-regulated exchanges, which covers Kalshi and Crypto.com (see the court cases above). Hobbs signed an executive order on July 9, 2026 barring executive branch employees from using nonpublic information to trade on prediction markets. Novig, which runs a CFTC-regulated market through Ludlow Exchange, LLC (designated June 16, 2026), excludes Arizona along with Nevada and Michigan on its eligibility page.
Daily fantasy is licensed by the Department of Gaming, which lists 16 fantasy operators, 15 of them active; PrizePicks, Underdog and Betr are among them. Players must be 21.
Help with a gambling problem
Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (1-800-639-8783), run by the Department of Gaming's Division of Problem Gambling, or text NEXTSTEP to 53342.
Sources
Arizona Department of Gaming approved operators and retail locations
Arizona Department of Gaming event wagering application period and Circa allocation
Arizona Department of Gaming tribal gaming history and timeline
Arizona Senate fact sheet for HB 2772 as enacted, Chapter 234
A.R.S. 5-1311, licensee restrictions including the age of 21
A.R.S. 5-1315, prohibited wagers including college in-game bets
A.R.S. 5-1321, conditional enactment tied to the 2021 compacts
Arizona Mirror on the April 15, 2021 compact and HB 2772 signing
Arizona Mirror on the Yavapai-Prescott and Turf Paradise lawsuits
Legal Sports Report on the amended Yavapai-Prescott complaint and intervenors
Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Arizona gaming revenues and privilege fee rates
Yogonet on the 2026 limited license window and the final budget
KalshiEX LLC v. Johnson, No. 2:26-cv-01715 (D. Ariz.) docket
DeFi Rate on Kalshi's rehearing petition and Robinhood's Supreme Court petition