- Arizona’s Desert Diamond Casinos have launched the first phase of their sports betting operation at their three gaming properties in Tucson, Sahauartia and West Valley.
- The Sahaurarita and West Valley locations offer a retail sportsbook. Kiosk betting is available at the Tucson location.
- Desert Diamond Casinos & Entertainment is a gaming enterprise of the Tohono O’odham Nation.
As noted in my previous posts about Arizona sports betting every story will be prefaced with the same disclaimer until further notice. The market continues to expand despite the fact that at the regulatory level it does little more than serve the needs of state politicians’ political cronies and financial benefactors. Amid this sleaze, there is a fairly decent sports betting ecosystem coming together. Granted, it could be one of the best in the US were it not for the closed door machinations of state government. Instead, they get–as I described it earlier this year:
…a mishmash of dimwitted incompetence and sheer imperiousness on the part of the state’s political elite. In particular, the process of license allocation is nothing more than shameless cronyism and log-rolling with a veneer of objectivity slapped on create some ‘plausible deniability’.
Arizona has the 14th largest population in the US and would be doing massive numbers if the state’s government were more concerned about developing the sports betting ecosystem and not just juicing in a small group of political cronies. At some point, I’m hoping that the regulatory cesspool is cleaned up but until then there’s at least a reasonably good sports betting market for players.
Desert Diamond Casinos has announced the launch of the first phase of their sports betting offerings. Desert Diamond Casinos is an enterprise of the Tohono O’odham Nation and the largest tribal gaming operator in Arizona. Kambi will power the retail sportsbooks at the Desert Diamond properties in West Valley, Sahuarita, and Tucson, Arizona. The retail sportsbook will include a full service operation along with betting kiosks. They’ll also provide the technology for an online/mobile sportsbook under the newly created entity of Desert Diamond Mobile LLC.
In the first phase of the Desert Diamond launch, they’ve opened retail sportsbooks at their Sahaurarita and West Valley locations. Kiosk betting is available at their Tucson property and a retail sportsbook is also planned for this location. Desert Diamond is running their sportsbooks in-house under the name ‘Desert Diamond Sportsbook’ and will be launching mobile betting in the near future–also with Kambi providing the technological backend. At a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by leaders of the Tohono O’odham Nation and their gaming subsidiary they emphasized their local ownership which they contend will bring about ‘better service’ as well as more targeted reinvestment of revenue from the operation.
Mike Bean, CEO of the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise, had these comments about the launch:
“We are thrilled to offer a whole new level of gaming entertainment to our guests. The new Desert Diamond Sportsbook will also add more excitement to our gaming floors, where there is something for everyone to enjoy.”
“Hosting our own Sportsbook using the Kambi platform is unique in Arizona and ensures the more personalized service that is the hallmark of Desert Diamond Casinos.”
Kambi is already a dominant force in the Arizona sports betting market. Their technology powers mobile/online betting for Penn National Gaming, Kindred Group’s Unibet and Churchill Downs’ TwinSpires, as well as a retail sportsbook for Churchill Downs’ TwinSpires in partnership with the Tonto Apache Tribe’s Mazatzal Casino.
