The leaders of two Native American reservations in southern Colorado just lately referred to as the state’s ban on their capacity to partake in online sports betting an extension of the “troubling legacy” of damaged agreements between governments and the Tribes.
A latest ruling by a federal court decide on the difficulty, together with a petroleum spill that has aggravated the connection between the state and the Tribes, has apparently reopened previous wounds. Healing them might occur within the coming weeks if the 2 sides can speak.
A cash matter
Colorado voters narrowly approved legalized sports playing right here in November 2019. The quantity of betting and the quantity of tax paid to the state from it has grown considerably since then. In September alone, bettors from throughout the nation spent greater than $99 million online with casinos in Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek.
Reservation-based casinos are necessary to Native American economies. In 2023, tribally owned gaming operations nationally generated about $42 billion in income. Understandably, these reservations search to maximise that money movement.
In Colorado, each the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribes began sports betting platforms by their very own casinos six months after voters gave online playing the inexperienced gentle. The Southern Ute Tribe launched the Sky Ute SportsBook by its Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe began its personal platform at its Ute Mountain Casino in Towaoc.
According to court paperwork, the seller for the Sky Ute Sportsbook acquired a letter from the Colorado Division of Gaming (CODOG) two weeks after it began.
“[W]e believe that your company is participating in sports betting in Colorado on behalf of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe without complying with Colorado gaming law,” the letter said.
Later, the seller working for the Ute Mountain Utes’ operation acquired the identical letter.
The gaming division suggested the Tribes to use for the state betting license, the identical license that every one different Colorado casinos are required to acquire. With that license would come a promise to pay 10% of web sports betting income to the state. The casinos declined, shut down their sports books and sued as an alternative.
“The Tribes claim that Colorado’s actions made their sports betting operations challenging and more expensive,” Judge Gordon Gallagher summarized in final month’s ruling, “effectively freezing them out of the sports betting market.”
Last month, Gallagher dismissed the case.
“Colorado explicitly authorized sports betting, a Class III game, throughout the state,” the Tribes complained in a joint press launch following the decide’s determination. “But the State immediately stymied the ability of the Tribes to engage in that activity despite clear authorization under the Gaming Compacts, and instead, elected to benefit out-of-state gaming interests over its relationship with the Tribes. When the Tribes sought to challenge that conduct, the Administration chose to hide behind its immunity. These actions by the Polis Administration in refusing to honor the Gaming Compacts entered into with Colorado’s two federally-recognized Tribes represents one of the lowest points in State-Tribal relations in recent history.”
History
The first playing accepted on a Native American reservation got here in 1979 when the Florida Seminoles opened a high-stakes bingo corridor. Its legality was challenged, however the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately dominated it was a authorized operation.
In 1988, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) was enacted, giving strategy to the expansion of casinos on reservation land.
Much has modified since then. First, online sports playing turned legal in most states in 2018, due to a U.S. Supreme Court determination.
That similar 12 months, the Supreme Court struck down a 1992 federal law that banned business sports betting in most states. This spurred most states to authorize sports wagering, as Colorado did one 12 months later. This gave these states regulatory authority over such playing outdoors reservation boundaries.
Of course, one of the vital vital modifications to happen was in know-how.
“[B]ecause of the ability to place an online bet from a cellular phone or other electronic device, bettors can engage in gambling from
almost anywhere,” Judge Gallagher said in his ruling. “If the gambler and roulette wheel were on Indian land, IGRA applied. However, in 2025, a gambler can be in Denver and the electronic game processed through a computer server on Southern Ute Indian Tribe land or Ute Mountain Ute Tribe land. Where then does the gaming occur?”
“This is a legal determination for the Court to make,” he said.
In the tip, Gallagher decided that any wager positioned off-reservation is regulated by the state.
“That distinction is crucial in this action and fatal to the Tribes’ case,” Gallagher wrote. “A myriad of gambling houses offer legal sports betting in the State of Colorado. To engage in this service, they must remit 10% to the State. The State of Colorado has offered this possibility to the Tribes.”
Anger Spills Over
“The Tribe respects Judge Gallagher and appreciates the time he has given this issue,” the Tribes said of their latest press launch. “We believe a different result is mandated by federal law and will be evaluating how to move forward in the coming weeks.”
But after that expression of hope, the Tribes’ sentiments took a really completely different tone. The press launch referred to the “bitter irony” of the scenario – a authorized setback over playing funds, most of that are directed at the state’s effort to protect its water resources, whereas the Southern Ute Tribe offers with an almost year-old gasoline spill that threatens the Animas River. Groundwater contamination has compelled a number of residents from their properties.
In the months since CBS Colorado first reported the spill, the corporate whose pipeline is liable for it has upgraded the extent of it, from 23,000 gallons to almost 97,000. The spill is now the largest spill of its sort in Colorado because the state started monitoring such incidents in 2016.
“We are confident that had this spill been in Denver instead of a remote, rural part of the state, the response would have been more robust,” the 2 Tribes said within the press launch. “The Southern Ute Indian Tribe has expended its own resources to ensure the local waterways and resources are protected in our region. It has done so without a single dollar of the millions of dollars in revenue the State has collected from sports betting, and without the benefit of additional revenue from tribally-run sports betting that could have been relied upon had the Gaming Compact been honored.”
The Tribes claimed Colorado Gov. Jared Polis didn’t take part in a latest convention name with state and Indigenous leaders concerning the spill.
“Yesterday’s cancelled call between Governor Polis and (Southern Ute) Chairman (Melvin J.) Baker reflects an alarming lack of urgency on the Governor’s part to work cooperatively with the Tribe on this spill – it brings to mind the troubling legacy of how states have historically disregarded Tribal relations, an approach that is wholly unacceptable in today’s society,” they stated. “The history of relations between Tribes and the state and federal governments is one of broken Treaties and agreements. The Polis Administration’s conduct is a reminder that those things we think are an artifact of a distant past still exist today.”
A spokesperson from Gov. Polis’s workplace responded with a press release:
(*2*)
Elsewhere
The concern is just not Colorado’s alone. Today, Indian gaming, as it’s referred to as, is performed in 29 states. There are 532 gaming operations, which embody casinos, bingo halls, journey plazas and comfort shops. These are owned by 243 Tribes. In whole, they grossed almost $44 billion in fiscal 12 months 2024.
However, in accordance with Tribal Government Gaming, three of the ten states containing the most important variety of Tribes nonetheless should not have authorized sports betting seven years after SCOTUS gave states the fitting to permit it. A poll initiative is within the planning levels for 2028 in California.
Congress may enact a nationwide commonplace for online sports betting by tribal casinos, however has not taken up the difficulty.
Adjacent to Colorado (from Tribal Government Gaming):
- All of Arizona’s Tribes can supply in-person wagering and digital betting on the reservation. But off reservation, the ten Tribes licensed to supply online sports betting are regulated by the state and pay the identical 10% tax charge as business operators.
- Nebraska voters agreed to legalize sports betting on the November 2020 poll, and three years later, the primary bets had been taken. The Winnebago Tribe is a key participant on the Nebraska gaming scene, however on this case, the Tribe is regulated and taxed by the state.
- Oklahoma Tribes are hoping to pursue legalizing sports betting when the present governor’s time period limits are reached in 2027.
- New Mexico’s Tribes have their very own regulatory physique and should not beholden to the state. They additionally don’t pay taxes.