Two Colorado Tribes Want the Right to Offer Sports Betting Throughout Colorado

When sports betting went live in Colorado, it was assumed that any interest that wanted to participate was given the opportunity to participate. That included several Native Indian Tribes that successfully renegotiated their compact, getting the right to offer retail and online sports betting services.

It would be an understatement to say that sports betting in Colorado has been a smashing success. Sports bettors are getting the access they want, and the state and operators are getting the tax and sports betting revenue stream they had dreamed of getting.

It turns out that two of the state's Indian Tribes were left out of the conversation and now want in to claim part of the sports betting pie.

Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Tribes Want Licensing

The two Tribes in question are the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute tribes. Tribe leaders are now claiming that when Prop DD was passed in 2019, they were never given a chance to even participate in the sports betting discussion. It's not sitting well with Tribe members because competing tribes like the Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek were granted licenses to provide retail sports betting services.

This past week, Tribal leadership when to Denver to meet with congressional leaders. They only had one topic in mind. They want to be part of Colorado's retail and especially online/mobile sports betting community.

Here is what Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart said in his meeting with Congress: "We all claim these lands as our homeland, but let us look at the past history and what has been taken away. All those lost opportunities we shall address, and we shall address them today and look forward to future opportunities."

Why the Sudden Interest?

Sports betting in Colorado has not been a guarded secret. The sports betting community has been rolling forward at a pretty good pace for close to a couple of years now. It raises the question: "why did the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute tribes not come forward sooner?"

In Colorado, as in other states, each Tribe is a sovereign entity. As such, they are responsible for looking out for their own without intervention from the state government. Somehow, they got missed when other tribes were invited to the sports betting discussion table. After seeing the kind of revenue that is being generated, they have awoken to the possibilities.

In their discussion with congressional leaders, they were quick to point out how important it is that they get inclusion in the Colorado sports betting community. It would allow Tribal governments the ability to upgrade the services that are currently being offered to Tribal members. Their claim is they need more revenue for the following services:

• Community health programs
  
• Substance abuse programs
  
• WIC
  
• Diabetes program
  
• Public safety
  

Realistically, there is very little reason to deny the Tribes' requests. It would require that the current compacts be renegotiated to include sports betting, but that is something the Governor already did with other Tribes.

What these two Tribes ultimately want is the right to generate gross betting revenue by offering online sports betting throughout the state with a partner online sports betting operator.