The Washington sports betting industry continues to grow as the state recently welcomed two new operators to serve customers in the state. This state is never going to be a large sports betting market, but it continues to attract some of the top operators in the industry.
Both Caesars Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook recently entered the state after partnering with Native American tribes. All of the sports betting in Washington must be done on the premises of tribal casinos, and there are several available in Washington.
The Snoqualmie Tribe was the first in Washington to offer any form of sports betting as it did so beginning in September. All of these tribes were trying to take advantage of the current NFL season to allow their sportsbooks to get off to a good start.
The only current online option in the state of Washington is offered by Snoqualmie, and it has not yet partnered with an online operator. It has chosen to launch its own sportsbook, and it does offer live or in-play sports betting as well.
Caesars, Spokane Tribe Partner
The Spokane Tribe Casino announced a deal with Caesars that brought the massive gambling and entertainment company to Washington. Caesars has been making a strong push in the U.S. sports betting industry, aided by its recent deal to purchase William Hill.
Sports betting isn’t the only thing that is coming to the Spokane Tribe Casino as a part of this deal, though. There will also be a new restaurant built on-site, and it will be in the same space that is dedicated to the new retail sportsbook.
Betting is not yet open for Washington residents, but it should be available just in time for bettors to wager on Super Bowl LVI.
FanDuel Plans Massive Ceremony
The FanDuel Sportsbook is already up and running, and there was a large ceremony to celebrate the official opening on February 4. The brand new FanDuel Sportsbook at Suquamish Clearwater Casino
officially began taking bets at 4:00 PM PST, and there was a special guest on hand to make the first wager.
Steve Largent, former U.S. Congressman, and Seattle Seahawks legend, will kick off the betting by placing the ceremonial first wager. This new space covers 2,000 square feet at the sportsbook, and there are a dozen live betting windows available.
BetMGM Already Available
BetMGM actually beat both Caesars and FanDuel into the Washington sports betting market as it officially went live in October. BetMGM was able to reach an agreement with the Puyallup Tribe to offer retail sports betting, even though it is most known for offering online gambling.
There are a total of nine different tribes that have been approved to offer retail sports betting at its casino. Each tribe can choose to offer betting on its own or partner with a national operator to bring more name recognition.
Statewide online wagering does not appear to be in the cards for Washington, but there would be a flurry of partnerships announced if this were to be the case.
