As a part of its plans to revise the existing regulatory model for gaming within the state, Arizona is moving a bill proposing a unified state body. The gaming environment in the state was previously regulated by the Arizona Racing Commission, the Arizona State Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts Commission and the Department of Gaming. If everything goes well, the new bill will combine the three regulatory establishments into a single state gaming commission.
This proposal received a green signal from the House Rules Committee last Monday. All eight votes have been cast in favour of unifying the regulators. The intention behind this establishment is to provide a fair and supervised environment for users across games. The collective model would come with six core members who are native residents of the state and a director who should have at least five years of experience in administrative positions. However, the committee would take charge of the operations only from mid-2023, even after getting the approval.
Along with the core committee, two others would also join the group; one from law enforcement and the other would be a public accountant. This is to help the commission get an idea about the economy behind the popular games and to bring a healthier commercial outlook to the gaming industry in the state. The commission will also have more public members representing various areas of the government to ensure the thoroughness of operation in the commission. Anyone with a financial interest in gaming or elected to the House will be declared ineligible for the committee.
The new commission is expected to bring some lucrative changes to the sports betting environment as well. It is widely believed that the new policies would be liberal enough to invite more businesses into the industry. Arizona allowed sports betting last September. Of the 20 licenses made, ten were reserved for tribes, and the other ten went for professional sports teams. There are 26 casinos in Arizona owned by 16 tribes. That would imply tight competition from them for the licenses. The new commission would have to bring forth some fundamental changes for sports betting licenses.
Bitcoin already dominates a significant portion of the gaming industry. The model keeps pushing people towards using Bitcoins for wagering in these gaming activities.
