Washington tribal casinos get final federal OK for sports betting

Washington states takes big step toward sports betting

Casinos on tribal lands can now apply for licenses in August. By September, individuals will be allowed to place bets inside of a casino.

SEATTLE - Sports betting in tribal casinos in Washington could be offered in some by the opening week of the NFL season.

The Seattle Times reports the U.S. Department of the Interior approved sports gambling compact amendments for the Puyallup, Tulalip, Snoqualmie, Spokane, Cowlitz, Squaxin, Suquamish, Stillaguamish and Lummi tribes, while applications by Muckleshoot, Swinomish, Skokomish, Kalispel, Jamestown S’Klallam, Shoalwater Bay and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation remain pending.

The Washington State Gambling Commission in late July gave final approval to sports gambling proposals outlined by tribes, hoping to have everything in place by the Sept. 9 NFL season opener.

Native American tribes see the NFL season is a prime source of sports gambling revenue at a time their communities — badly hit by COVID-19 shortfalls — need additional money to provide various health, education and other social services.

Momentum has surged to legalize sports gambling nationwide since May 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law banning such betting everywhere but Las Vegas and a handful of other places.

Individual states can now chart their own course, and more than two dozen, Washington now among them, have authorized some form of sports wagering.

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