Partners in a strategic move

WynnBET and the San Carlos Apache Tribe have partnered in a strategic move to go after an online sports betting license in Arizona.

Seth Medvin, director of public relations for WynnBET – the sports betting arm of luxury hospitality giant Wynn Resorts – took to Twitter on July 2 to announce the deal with the southeastern Arizona tribe:

The new partnership gives the pair a little over two months to get their relevant online sports wagering papers stamped before September 9. This is the day the National Football League (NFL)’s new season kicks off, and the date the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) has set for the state’s legal sports betting market to go live.

a little over two months to get their relevant online sports wagering papers stamped before September 9

WynnBET and the San Carlos Apache Tribal Gaming Enterprise will now work together to nail down licensure. According to an official news release, WynnBET’s Arizona market access is “subject to license eligibility and availability as well as regulatory approvals.”

September 9 on sportsbooks’ minds

The ADG’s September 9 launch date has gotten sportsbooks and Arizona sports organizations striking deals and mobilizing forces at pace. Only 20 sports betting licenses will get portioned out in Arizona.

With half of these earmarked for tribal casinos, the San Carlos Apache Tribe is making sure it gets all its ducks in a row in order for sports betting to roll out this fall at its two Arizona casinos, namely the Apache Gold Casino Resort in San Carlos and Apache Sky Casino in Winkelman.

Should the Apache-Wynn licensure partnership bear fruit, the tribe’s two casinos in Arizona will gain access to the WynnBET app. While announcing its partnership with the Arizona tribe on July 2, WynnBET said its app provides “highly social sports-betting technology […] so that wagering and winning can be a celebrated and shared experience.”

Arizona is WynnBET’s 16th state

For WynnBET, the Apache tribe tie-up means it has market access to 16 states where it operates or, as in Arizona, has plans to launch subject to meeting regulatory, legal, and other related operational criteria.

footprint will eventually cover “approximately 77%” of the US population

Subject to said requirements and to gaining entry into “additional states in the near-term,” WynnBET said its market access footprint will eventually cover “approximately 77%” of the US population.

The WynnBET mobile sports betting app is currently available in Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, and Tennessee. WynnBET’s app launched in the latter state in April, allowing its marketing collaboration with the National Basketball Association’s Memphis Grizzlies to officially begin.