. Not Everyone Wants The Arizona Sports Betting Rollout Stopped

Written By John Holden on September 7, 2021Last Updated on January 30, 2023
Arizona Tribes Speak Up Against Yavapai-Prescott Lawsuit

Before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Smith ruled that the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe (YPIT) had failed to establish sufficient grounds for the judge to issue a temporary restraining order against the launch of legalized sports betting in Arizona, there was a new entry on the docket report.

Heading into Labor Day weekend, attorneys for the Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona and the Quechan Tribe of the Ft. Yuma Indian Reservation (“the Intervenors”) filed a notice of intent to “intervene and opposition to the plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.”

The plaintiffs protested the treatment but were unable to obtain injunctive relief. The appellate court system in Arizona and Nevada now appears to be the most good next step.

Qualifications of the motion to act

While the process to obtain a temporary restraining order — which failed in the superior court Monday — now enters its next phase, the motion to intervene contained some fascinating insights into how some of the other tribes in Arizona viewed the lawsuit filed by the YPIT.

The Intervenors claimed that they negotiated for the recently amended gaming compact for more than five years along with 18 Arizona & rsquo, or 22 federally recognized tribes. The Grand Canyon State’s legal sports betting will go into effect on September 9 thanks to that arrangement.

Among the 10 nations that obtained sports betting certificates are the Intervenors. & nbsp, the Quechan Tribe of the Ft. Yuma Indian Reservation joined forces with Kindred Group, and TwinSpires teamed up with the Tonto Apache tribe of Arizona.

The Intervenors claimed they had significant stakes in the dispute as licenseed events.

a unique narrative?

The YPIT, according to the Intervenors, tries to remove 20 of Arizona’s 22 tribes’ five years of labor. The Intervenors claim that YPIT was given the chance to take part in the agreements and even encouraged to do so. The Yavapai-Prescott & ldquo, however, decided against doing so. & rdquo,

The Intervenors contend that the YPIT has recourse options. but never as a result of this case.

Instead, the YPIT has the opportunity to go to the table with Gov. Doug Ducey and negotiate. The Intervenors argue, as previousy noted,  that the YPIT remedy lies in federal court under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and that the state court efforts are not the proper place for the plaintiff’s complaints to be heard.

Discussion put forth by intervening Arizona nations

The Intervenors declare:

YPIT, & ldquo, comes to this Court with dirty hands seeking incredible comfort despite the fact that it avoided important and good faith small conversations in order to either benefit from the goal or bring a lawsuit against the State. & rdquo,

The Intervenors contend that the court should not even address the claims and should instead decide this case on jurisdictional grounds due to the YPIT & rsquo’s ineffective attempts to obtain a temporary restraining order.

Defendants must erect four points in Arizona

A temporary restraining order or initial injunctive relief in Arizona requires a plaintiff to prove four points.

    a high likelihood of success based on virtues,
  1. If the requested pleasure is not granted, the plaintiff may suffer catastrophic harm, which cannot be compensated for with problems.
  2. Plaintiff benefits from a compromise of difficulties.
  3. The lawsuit is supported by public policy.

The claimant, according to the intervenors, fails every step of the way.

the highway or a governmental route

According to the motion, if YPIT wants gaming rights, the tribe & rsquo has a legal right to do so through the IGRA process.

The Intervenors contend that the YPIT won’t be able to get what it wants from the Superior Court( or, more probable, an Arizona appeals court or Arizona Supreme Court by the time this is finished ). Yet if HB 2772 was declared invalid, the process of talks would be restarted from scratch.

Perhaps you actually have a good chance of winning?

The Intervenors evaluate the public plan implications of the YPIT’s success to wrap up their discussion. The Intervenors note in their study that:

It is always in the public interest to stop the violation of a party’s constitutional rights, according to & ldquo, YPIT & rsquo. Since no party’s constitutional rights have been violated, this constitutional generalism has no relevance to the current event. Public policy therefore weighs against YPIT & rsquo’s requested relief( internal citations omitted ). & rdquo,

B in the manifest

Calvin Johnson, the Tonto Apache Tribe’s chair, made a declaration in the motion to act. According to Johnson & Rsquo’s declaration, he started negotiating changes to the tribal-state gaming agreement from 2003 in late 2016.

Johnson claimed that he sent Ernest Jones Sr., the YPIT’s president at the time, an email inviting him to a surrender. There, they would talk about proposals for some of Arizona’s smaller games tribes and strategies for small amendment. Jones declined, but he extended Johnson and Chairwoman Jeri DeCola a mutual offer to meet with the YPIT management in March 2017.

The meeting’s declaration, according to YPIT & rsquo, stated:

& ldquo, that if other tribes were to successfully negotiate a compact amendment with the State and YPIT did not like the terms of the agreement reached by the other tribal parties taking part in the negotiations, the latter would then merely sue the state. & rdquo,

What & rsquo, is scheduled to appear in an Arizona gaming lawsuit?

The appellate judge appears to be the obvious next step for the Yavapai – Prescott, as Judge Smith predicted earlier next week.

The Division One Court of Appeals method did not reflect the tribe’s filing of such an elegance as of the time of writing.

But anticipate it immediately as the sports betting release is set for two days.

a picture by Dreamstime
John Holden Avatar
authored by
John Holden

View all posts by John Holden