TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Gearing up for the upcoming NFL season is sports betting in Arizona. That type of gambling has been legalized and is ready to take off on Sept. 9.
“We’ve been preparing for this for quite a while now and now it's come to fruition. So we’re excited to get this kicked off. You can bet the teams in our state, if you would like to, the college teams or the great pro teams the great state of Arizona has,” said Johnny Avello, DraftKings' director of race and sports operations.
Avello says this opens up another facet to what makes spectating sports so great. Kenneth Fuchs, head of sports at Caesars Sportsbook, agrees.
“For fans, I think it just adds a little bit more fun to the games that they’re watching and the teams that they’re interested in or the players they follow and have a little bit of excitement around that entire experience. Especially as you head into fall and you’ve got all different sports going at the same time,” said Fuchs.
And Caesars Sportsbook is partnering with the Arizona Diamondbacks — while launching for retail and its app.
“They’re an iconic franchise. This is the 20th year anniversary of them winning the World Series in 2001, one of the best series, I think, in recent memory. The location is going to be tremendous, we’re going to have a two-story, brand new sportsbook that we’re going to open up later this year,” said Fuchs.
And a top reason they both say it is a benefit to Arizona to allow sports betting is because of tax dollars and revenue.
“Instead of the people going to Las Vegas that make their wagers now, they’ll stay at home and make those wagers. And they’ll do it from the comfort of their home or shopping or wherever they may be because it’s as easy as downloading DraftKings on the app, funding it, and making your wagers,” said Avello.
“For the state, it’s a great opportunity to raise revenue. In terms of the industry itself, we’re obviously seeing expansion across the country,” said Fuchs.
You can take advantage of DraftKings’ free pools on its app. They can be played in any state, regardless of sports betting is legal. “Before the Arizonans become legal in about a week, I would say go and play those free polls where we put up the money and you collect the winnings,” said Avello.
And at chase field, Caesar’s Sportsbook is having an all-day event on Sept. 9 starting at 9 a.m. Entertainment, food, and drinks will be there for guests to enjoy. The Caesars Sportsbook app has special offers available for Arizonans once downloaded.
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