Sports betting coming soon

Matt Baide | Sep 23, 20210

Matt Baide count

Little Creek Casino Resort is among the first tribal casinos in Washington to be approved to take bets for sporting events. The casino, owned and operated by the Squaxin Island Tribe, plans to begin taking sports bets by the end of the year.

You will soon be able to place a wager on professional and NCAA sports at Little Creek Casino.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed a sports betting bill into law in March 2020 that permits sports wagering at Class III tribal casinos in the state.

The Washington State Gambling Commission approved the sports wagering licensing rules July 28.

"The goal was to get sports wagering in place for the tribal casinos in time for kickoff for the 2021 NFL season and that goal was accomplished," Washington State Gambling Commission Public Information Officer Kevin McCarty told the Journal. "That was the goal of both the Washington State Gambling Commission and the tribal gaming agencies so there was a lot to be done. Compact amendments had to be negotiated and that takes time. We're all dealing with COVID. That happened, I would say it was a pretty smooth process given that 15 tribal gaming agencies, tribal governments were able to have their compact amendments approved in time to make that deadline."

The Squaxin Island tribe and Little Creek Casino were one of those 15 tribal gaming agencies and Inslee signed the compact amendments in July. The U.S. Department of the Interior published nine amendments to the federal register on Sept. 1, which was the final step of approval of revised gaming compacts to allow sports betting.

The Skokomish tribe and Lucky Dog casino had their wagering compact approved by the Washington State Gambling Commission on June 22 but has yet to be signed by Gov. Inslee's office.

Seattle Supersonics legend Shawn Kemp made history on Sept. 9 as the first person to place a sports wagering bet at Snoqualmie Casino, the state's first sportsbook to open, according to the state gambling commission's Twitter.

The public support for sports betting coming to Washington has been incredible, according to McCarty.

"The commission meetings that were held virtually to approve the compacts were widely attended by people who could join on Teams, have input if they wanted to," McCarty said. "The public interest has been great, and when I say great, I don't mean great as in really good, I mean great as in very large. There is a lot of public interest in this. There was a lineup to place wagers at Snoqualmie when they kicked it off on the (Sept.) 10th."

For the state and the commission, there is not much of an economic impact.

Approved tribal casinos can facilitate sports betting through a few ways. Casinos can host a traditional sports book area to place bets but can also have kiosks set up throughout the casino to accept sports betting wagers. Wagers can also be placed through a mobile app on casino grounds.

"The way that works is if you were to go to a casino and you wanted to use your mobile phone, you have to go to a casino desk, window, you have to open an account," McCarty said. "That account has to be approved. Once it's approved, you're able to get an app that you are able to download there at the casino that works at that casino. You couldn't take one from Snoqualmie and go use it at Muckleshoot. That allows you to, once you have it, to place bets while you are on the premises of the casino."

McCarty elaborated by saying that doesn't mean you have to be in the casino. You can be in the parking lot, in a hotel room or in a restaurant. It does restrict betting access at convenience stores and golf courses.

Patrons can partake in betting on any professional sports teams. They can bet on any college sports teams other than college teams located in the state, even if they're playing out of state.

"In the last NCAA tournament, Gonzaga went all the way through to the finals. You would not be able to place a wager on any game Gonzaga was involved in, including the finals," McCarty said. "So once they reached that final game, you would not be able to place a sports wager in Washington State on that game."

Tribal Administrator and Treasurer Marvin Campbell said Little Creek Casino said a sports book and betting will be implemented by the end of the year, according to a presentation from the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce's State of the Community event.

"It will have basically some TVs and a lounge area that's going to be for sports betting," Campbell said during the presentation.