The Arizona Department of Gaming has announced the licensing of Plannatech and Sporttrade. The two operators are to be given sports betting licenses to replace departing platforms Unibet and WynnBET.
The agency’s decision brings Arizona’s total number of licensed operators back to 18. The new licenses were granted following a short application window for new event wagering licenses, which opened on July 8 and closed on July 19 of this year.
The state of Arizona has the capacity to grant a total of 20 licenses. Of those 20, 10 must go to tribal casinos, while the rest can go to professional sports franchises.
At the opening of its application window, the Arizona Department of Gaming had two licenses from the 10 allocated to tribal gaming operators available as a result of recent departures. The successful operators were officially licensed on Friday, August 2.
New operators emerge in a vast sports betting market
The state of Arizona has an expansive mobile wagering marketplace. So expansive, in fact, that spending surpassed that of Nevada for April and May this year. In May, gross sports betting revenue was $62.4M, from $567.3M in handle.
Sporttrade is based in Philadelphia, PA. Already live in Iowa, New Jersey and Colorado, it will now offer online betting to customers throughout Arizona. The new license comes as part of its efforts to expand across the U.S., following closely behind its Iowa launch in May.
Plannatech, on the other hand, is based in the UK, where it was first incorporated in 2015. It currently provides the technology platform, as well as risk management services to Prime Sports, which is live in New Jersey and Ohio.
Tribe-tethered agreements for Plannatech and Sporttrade
Gaming in Arizona is governed by Arizona Tribal-State Gaming Compacts (Compacts), between the 22 recognized Arizona tribes and the state.
According to Arizona law, compacts with every one of the 22 tribes are the same, and each one has a duration of 10 years. At the end of this term, compacts can either be renewed for another 10 years, or an additional two-years can be added on.
Sporttrade will partner with the Quechan Indian tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian reservation. The Quechan tribe had been paired with Unibet previously, but the operator ceased trading in Arizona at the beginning of June as part of its plans to leave the North American market.
Plannatech is to partner with San Carlos Apache Tribal Gaming Enterprise. Based in Gila County, the San Carlos Apache Tribal Gaming Enterprise was previously partnered with WynnBET. Wynn Resorts announced its decision to close the platform in Arizona and seven other U.S. states back in August 2023.
What’s next for Arizona’s sports bettors?
Plannatech and Sporttrade will join the likes of DraftKings, Caesars, BetRivers, FanDuel, Fanatics Sportsbook and BetMGM as they open to players in the Grand Canyon State.
Mobile betting is of course a core focus for Arizona operators, and it will remain so with mobile wagers continuing to dwarf those taken in bookmakers. The ADG’s revenue report for May this year revealed that 99% of wagers taken that month were via mobile devices. The total spend on mobile was $563.2M, of a total of $567.3M.
Players in the Grand Canyon State now have a wealth of mobile betting options to choose from, and it looks likely that more options could soon follow in this fast-moving market.
The shutdown of another of the state’s licensed operators, SuperBook, in July leaves room for at least one new operator in the near future.
SuperBook announced its surprise decision via Twitter, stating that it would be shutting down in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. The move makes another Arizona tribal license available for an operator partnering with the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe.
It’s worth noting that in Arizona, operators must give 180 days notice before any planned departures. SuperBook is the second operator in a month to shut down without giving anywhere near that amount of notice.
