It’s still uncertain when the Prairie Band Casino in Mayetta, Kansas will open its on-site sportsbook. That event is closer to landing on people’s schedules, however.
The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has secured a contract with gambling service provider Kambi for the operation of its forthcoming sportsbook inside the casino. Outside of what platform the casino will use for its sportsbook, details remain scant.
Kambi to power Prairie Band Casino sportsbook
In July, the new gaming compact between the US Dept. of the Interior, the state of Kansas, and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation became final. Added amendments to the compact allow the tribal gaming authority to operate a physical sportsbook at Prairie Band Casino.
Since then, however, movement on that front had been quiet until Tuesday. On Tuesday, Kambi announced its sportsbook partnership with the casino in a press release. The release divulges some details of the sportsbook.
According to the release, the sportsbook inside Prairie Band Casino will encompass 35,000 square feet. The space will offer four bar top terminals and 10 self-service kiosks for bettors. Those terminals will use Kambi software licensed out to Prairie Band.
The Kambi release says nothing about what specific space the sportsbook will occupy inside the casino. Based on the information in the release, however, it is possible to make some guesses.
Possible locations for the Prairie Band sportsbook
Currently, the tribal casino boasts three full bars:
- The Casino Bar
- The Lobby Bar
- Embers Bar & Grille, which adds food service to its drinks menu
It’s unclear which of those three venues is large enough to encompass the sportsbook. The casino may be planning to expand the intended location of the sportsbook to fit its designs.
Another possibility is that the casino will convert another existing space into a sportsbook. That seems the most unlikely of options, though, as officials expressed they would like to open the sportsbook during the final quarter of this year.
The partnership with Kambi puts a significant piece of the puzzle in place. That partnership also makes an extension of Prairie Band Casino’s legal sports betting activity more feasible.
Prairie Band’s online sports betting aspirations
A provision in the amended compact allows Prairie Band to operate online sports betting across Kansas should federal law also provide for that. Under the current interpretation of the Indian Gaming Rights Act (IGRA), gambling governed by tribal compacts can only take place on tribal lands.
While legal challenges to that current understanding are ongoing and the United States Congress could repeal those sections of the IGRA, Prairie Band hasn’t made any public overtures toward offering an online sportsbook throughout Kansas to date. It did express a desire to develop its online sportsbook, though.
Kambi’s tech platform could enable that development. For the time being, casino patrons would be able to use the app while on-site. Launching the app even within those narrow parameters would enable the casino to be prepared in the event of a legal shift.
Sports betting at Prairie Band Casino will begin with the stated collection of kiosks. But the when and where remain unknown.