A Native American tribe in Kansas has got the nod from the federal government to offer legal sports betting on its lands and, depending on the outcome of a court case several states to the east, mobile wagering.
The “approval by operation of law” of a Kansas sports betting amendment to a gaming compact between the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and the state paves the way for the former to open a brick-and-mortar book at its casino soon.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland took no action on the compact amendment between the tribe and the state, which essentially approves the change by default to the extent it is consistent with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), a recent notice in the Federal Register said.
Make space
Kansas already has four commercial casinos taking bets since the state launched retail and mobile sports betting sites in September 2022. There are also six online sportsbooks operational in Kansas, including BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel.
Local media reported the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation aims to join the fray as early as this fall with a retail launch at its Prairie Band Casino and Resort in Mayetta. Tribal Council Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick even told the Kansas Capitol Bureau that their physical book could welcome bettors as soon as September.
“Initially, we’re going to have a sports betting room that’s going to be located in the casino, and our hope is going to be to offer up a mobile app,” Rupnick reportedly said.
An important precedent
The latter part of that sentence is notable because of the ongoing legal battle in Florida over allowing another Native American tribe, the Seminole, to accept mobile sports bets placed all over the state through an amended gaming compact.
While the tribe appears to have the upper hand in court at the moment, the likelihood of further appeals and legal wrangling remains high. Whatever the outcome is, it could set a precedent that would apply in Kansas, with three other tribes in the state who could follow in the footsteps of the Prairie Band Potawatomi when it comes to sports betting.
“The amended compact for the Prairie Band Potawatomi says that if federal law is interpreted to allow an arrangement similar to what is proposed in Florida, [then] the tribe also would be able to conduct sports betting statewide,” the Topeka Capital-Journal newspaper reported in June.
