TACOMA, Wash. — Efforts to expand sports gambling in Washington state beyond tribal casinos were dealt a significant blow on Tuesday.
Maverick Gaming LLC's lawsuit challenging the state's rules on sports betting was dismissed by a judge in U.S. District Court.
The suit originally filed in January 2022 by Maverick Gaming claimed state officials, including Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson among others, granted a "discriminatory tribal gaming monopoly" over sports betting and other types of gambling.
“This is a significant victory for tribal sovereignty,” Ferguson said in a statement following the decision. “Washington law strikes the right balance by permitting sports betting and confining it to tribal casinos, where tribes have experience carefully regulating gambling where individuals must be physically present.”
Eric Persson, the owner of Maverick Gaming, believed there was room for both commercial and tribal sports gambling operations in the state.
"We just want the opportunity to compete. You know, it's fantastic that tribes have sports betting. We think we should have it too." Persson told KING 5 last year about the lawsuit.
"This isn't an either or, no matter how they try to frame it. There's room for both of us, and the truth is, they're a $2.4 billion business. We're a $50 million business. So you know, they're going be just fine."
In 2020, Washington passed a law that allowed the state Gambling Commission to enter into compacts with Washington tribes to allow sports wagering within a tribal casino and its surrounding premises. The bill went into effect in September 2021 on a case-by-case basis.
Maverick Gaming has supported legislative proposals in recent years that would expand sports gambling operations to licensed card rooms around the state. The company owns and operates nearly half of the state's licensed card rooms.
“This is an important legal victory,” said Rebecca George, executive director of the Washington Indian Gaming Association. “Maverick’s lawsuit was a direct attack on the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which over the last three decades has been a pathway for tribes to regain their self-reliance by generating revenue to lift tribal communities out of poverty and despair. It is also a strong ratification of the collaborative and productive relationship that Washington’s tribes have developed with state and federal officials to create a safe, limited and well-regulated system of gaming in Washington State.”
