The Arkansas Racing Commission unanimously approved a supersede rule Thursday that awards local casinos 51% of the winnings when they marry online bookmakers like DraftKings and FanDuel.
If the legislative panel approves the rule’s replacement at its next meeting on Jan. 28, cellular sports can begin through February.
The vote on the 51% rule has national ramifications. Carlton Saffa, market manager at Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, said he has heard from casino operators across the country, outside of their states, to enforce a 51% rule.
John Burris, a former Arkansas lawmaker who represents national online bookmakers, had told Gambling. com that the 51% rule would not apply in other states because sports bettors need features and this profit-sharing point can scare national brands.
“Ultimately, consumers will ask for a replacement because they need a choice,” Burris said. “They need a genuine market, anything with a lid. “
After Thursday’s meeting, Saffa told Gambling. com he was “proud that Arkansas is where profit sharing has the talking point. “
The year-end vote followed weeks of wrangling on social media sites over the 5% to 1% profit-sharing rule. Online bookmakers between 5% and 1. 5% with local casinos, an industry representative said.
This coalition holds that profit-sharing agreements are negotiated between personal businesses, such as themselves and casinos, not through the government.
The organization also argues that the top profit share figure may simply discourage national online bookmakers from entering Arkansas, depriving bettors of the big brands they know and trust.
At the race commission assembly Thursday, Burris said national online bookmakers “cannot do business in Arkansas” with the 51% rule in place. He said casinos elsewhere, such as Louisiana, have concluded that they will marry major national brands. .
National online bookmakers argue that their marketing and others can generate more sports betting, which can generate more profits for their casino partners and more tax dollars for the state.
While national sports betting will have to partner with Arkansas casinos to work in the state, local casinos can create their own mobile sports betting apps.
Saffa told the Commission that national brands mean that if cellular platforms are created in Arkansas, they will be top-notch. He used Walmart, whose global headquarters are in Bentonville, Arkansas, as an example of the state’s first-class work. do it,” he said.
The casinos note that they employ a total of 3,000 workers, give a contribution of millions in national and local taxes and have spent more than a billion dollars on capital structure for the state.
The state’s 3 advertising casinos are Saracen, Oaklawn Casino Resort in Hot Springs and Southland Casino Racing in West Memphis. A fourth approved hotel-casino in Pope County has yet to be built.
On-site sports are already allowed at the price lockers and kiosks of Arkansas’ in-house casinos.
In addition to opposing the 51% provision, online bookmakers have requested the new wording to allow the casino to offer 4 mobile apps, or “masks,” instead of the assignment of two masks indicated in the rule.
National online bookmakers said more aspects would create festivals and raise tax cash to the public purse.
The language allowing each casino to offer up to two skins remained in the rule that the Racing Commission approved on Thursday.
Tennessee, which doesn’t have commercial casinos, launched its mobile sports wagering program in November 2020.
Louisiana already allows sports betting inside casinos. Mobile wagering is expected to begin by the end of January, state Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns told Gambling.com.