Picture Credit: City of Scottsdale
It is Arizona’s sports event of the year, when the Super Bowl and Final Four aren’t here at least. It is known nationally by golf fans as THE Party in the PGA. It is most recently known by a hole in one followed by beer littering the 16th hole in a fit of public ecstasy. It is the WM Phoenix Open; I probably didn’t need to tell you that though.
And how could this event get wilder than it already is? What if we threw on-site sports betting into the mix? Well we don’t have to wonder what that might look like for much longer.
In a 5-1 vote in the Scottsdale Planning Commission, they voted to recommend approval of a 12,000 square foot restaurant with an adjoining sportsbook run by DraftKings. While these votes are simply recommendations, it is a good indicator that it will very likely pass through the Scottsdale City Council when it comes to a vote there, which will officially approve it.
It also moves towards a frequent question from people who attend the Phoenix Open: why don’t they make the structures used for the Open permanent, instead of building them up and tearing them down every year? While it seems like it would be relatively common sense, there are zoning and property tax implications that likely get in the way. This permanent structure is perhaps a small move towards that direction.
Since the recent approval of sports betting in Arizona and other states, the practice has proliferated wildly, as demonstrated by the myriad inescapable advertisements. While updated numbers are difficult to find in real time, it certainly came out of the gates strongly after the April 2021 bill signing. Analysis shows that $777 million in bets were made from Arizonans in the first two months alone. Revenue to the state is slightly muted, drawing questions of whether our state coffers got a raw deal, but having the option to place a bet is a positive one regardless.
So soon you will likely be able to imbibe in sports betting as you take in the Open. We only hope that alcohol and betting aren’t mixed together too heavily, or that too many Hole 16 crazies aren’t holed away in the sportsbook watching the match on TV. But for all of the potential concerns, we can’t help but see this as a positive development.