A court has dismissed an appeal for a case challenging the Washington sports betting market, keeping in-person tribal sportsbooks alive.
Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Maverick Gaming’s appeal of the Washington sports betting compact between the state and its tribes. Maverick filed the initial suit challenging the Washington sports betting market in 2022.
The Shoalwater Bay Casino intervened in the case, arguing the case could not move forward because it would violate its tribal sovereignty and that it could not be represented by the federal government. The courts have agreed in their decisions.
Maverick sports betting case
Maverick, which operates cardrooms in the state, filed a suit challenging the compacts in 2022. It argues that tribal exclusivity in the compacts violates the 10th Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause.
The Western Washington District Court dismissed the case in 2023. The Third Circuit Court upheld the initial ruling.
“The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Maverick Gaming LLC’s action — which alleged that the State of Washington’s tribal-state compacts allowing sports betting on tribal land violate the Indian Regulatory Gaming Act, the Equal Protection Clause, and the Tenth Amendment — because the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe is a required party that cannot be joined to the litigation,” the decision read.
Maverick Gaming CEO Eric Persson has said he is willing to take the case to the Supreme Court.
Washington sportsbook history
Gov. Jay Inslee signed in-person tribal sports betting into law in 2020. The state’s 29 tribes then had to renegotiate their compacts with the state.
Washington sports betting launched in 2021 when the Snoqualmie Tribe opened the first sportsbook at its Snoqualmie Casino.
Twenty-three tribes operate 29 casinos in the state with Class III gaming, which now includes sportsbooks, according to the Washington State Gaming Commission.
