An Arkansas sports betting operator continues its push for online casino legalization to protect the regulated market despite new opposition.
Carlton Saffa, the CMO of Saracen Casino Resort, told LSR last week that he hopes to soon have at least an informal online casino discussion in front of the Arkansas Racing Commission. That lane should be open now that the site of a potential new Arkansas casino is off the commission’s docket, an issue Saffa said the commission was 100% focused on.
Saffa said the main driver for Arkansas online casinos is to protect the regulated gambling industry and Arkansans. BetSaracen is the leading online Arkansas sports betting operator.
Arkansas online casino argument
Saffa first sent an online casino memo to the ARC in March, asking it to consider online casino legalization. He argued illegal online casinos are rampant in the state and cited American Gaming Association data that Arkansans illegally wager up to $5 billion annually.
“My message is not a question of whether or not we want online gaming in Arkansas; we’ve had it for some time. The question is, do we want to admit it is here and regulate and tax it, or pretend it’s not happening?” Saffa said. “I believe you should pull weeds when they’re small. They’re easier to pull out of the ground. Every day we wait, illegal casinos will only grow, and we’re already talking about juggernauts.”
Easy path for Arkansas online casino?
Saffa said online casino legalization can follow the same path as online Arkansas sports betting, which the state legalized in 2022. He said there is direct constitutional permission for gambling, and regulators can alter the rules to include online casino.
He said the first casino gambling rules came out in 2019, restricting slots, table games, and sports betting to within the walls of a casino and online poker to within the state’s borders. In 2022, state regulators expanded the geography for sports betting to the state’s borders.
“It’s important to understand it’s just geographic,” Saffa said. “We are going from four walls of casino only to taking games of chance to the four borders of the Arkansas.”
Online not new in Arkansas
Legal online horse betting began in Arkansas in 2014.
“A decade ago, people still went to the store to buy toothbrushes, now that’s Amazon. Netflix was very different, everything in the online world was different,” Saffa said. “In 2022 we moved to sports, 2019 had poker. The sun still rose, we didn’t go to hell. People didn’t go bankrupt. We didn’t fall into the ocean.
“More importantly, we have online slots and tables in Arkansas, the state just does not tax and regulate it.”
Challengers popping up against online casino
This month, Saffa added a statewide 50/50 raffle to raise proceeds for the University of Arkansas’s NIL needs. He said the idea came from the largest state NIL collective, and Saracen decided to fold it into the online casino proposal.
“That was the caboose that was bolted on the back of our train moving along the tracks,” Saffa said. “But in the last month, I have seen the caboose driving the train. That’s fine if it raises awareness of the issue, but I will tell you, if that’s the only reason folks want to legalize online gaming, then we ought not to do it. The core issues are consumer protections, protecting children, our product when not done correctly, it’s the same as alcohol, tobacco, sugar, firearms.”
Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort General Manager Wayne Smith told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that Oaklawn opposes online casino legalization. Oaklawn, which does offer online horse racing and sports betting, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Department of Finance and Administration released a statement that an expansion is not as simple as a rule change but that it is open to working with gambling industry stakeholders to address illegal operators, according to THV 11.
Small online market in Arkansas
BetSaracen is one of three online sportsbooks in Arkansas. Oaklawn Sports and Betly are the two other sportsbooks.
Major US sportsbooks opted to stay out of the market because the rules require 51% of sports betting revenue to be shared with Arkansas casinos.
In June, the sportsbooks handled $31.4 million in wagers, generating $3.2 million in revenue.
Saffa aims to be like Michigan
Saffa said Michigan is the gold standard for gambling regulation in the US. He pointed to DFS and sweepstakes platforms that have pulled out of the state following cease and desist letters.
Arkansas sent cease and desist letters to PrizePicks and Underdog earlier this year. Both continue to operate in the state.
“Michigan is the only state that’s done this correctly,” Saffa said. “Law enforcement alone will not do it. How do you stop offshore? You can’t with just letters. In Arkansas, we sent C&Ds to fantasy sports operators doing player props, and we have a real-world example of how the state is not prepared to shut down bad actors.
“By authorizing casinos, like Michigan, plus the heat from law enforcement, we know it works. Law enforcement plus authorizing legal actors displace illegal actors.”
