Prairie Band Casino could soon become the first of four tribal gaming authorities operating within the borders of Kansas to include sports betting among their options for guests. The last legal hurdle to that becoming reality is now no longer an obstacle.
Questions remain about the scope of Prairie Band Casino’s sportsbook offering at this point, though. Should circumstances ever allow, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation could expand its operations rapidly and widely.
Prairie Band Casino will open sportsbook this year
According to Rebekah Chung of Fox4, the US Dept. of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has approved an amendment to the compact between itself, the state of Kansas and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. This amendment allows Prairie Band Casino in Mayetta to offer sports betting to patrons.
Currently, the plan is to open a sportsbook inside the casino sometime during the fourth quarter of this year. However, a chance exists that the casino could start taking bets on sports in September.
Either way, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation seems on track to be the first of the four tribal gaming authorities inside Kansas to offer sports betting. The other such groups are the:
- Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
- Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas
- Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
Those groups have yet to negotiate amendments to their compacts with Gov. Laura Kelly. That’s necessary before those amendments can receive approval from either the Kansas legislature or the BIA.
Perhaps the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s success will provide some inspiration if it does indeed start taking bets on sporting events this fall. That could especially apply if it is able to build upon those operations in the future.
Will online betting be part of the Prairie Band Casino sportsbook?
Chung reports that Prairie Band Casino plans to build its own sports betting app. However, the scope of that app’s usefulness is currently up in the air.
Under the current interpretation of federal law, gambling that happens under the purveyance of a gaming compact like that which the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation uses is only legal on the respective tribe’s sovereign territory. In plainer English, you would only be able to use the app to place bets on the tribe’s land.
However, current litigation before federal courts could change that interpretation. The amendment has a provision in that instance, too. If that status quo were to change, Prairie Band would be able to offer online sports betting throughout Kansas.
It would behoove Prairie Band Casino to have its app ready for that day, should it ever come. For the time being, though, the online sportsbook could give bettors another option when they’re at the casino.
The land-based sportsbook in the casino is coming soon regardless of the development of the app. For the casino, that development represents another amenity that it hopes will attract visitors.