For a brief period of time on Wednesday, the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) added presidential election betting in addition to betting on the Grammy Awards as new entries into the betting catalog at state sportsbooks.
The posting stayed up for a few hours but was quickly pulled.
“The election wager was added in error and the wager type is being removed from the catalog. Election wagers are a prohibited wager and the Department is ensuring no wagers were accepted on the election,” an ADG spokesperson told SBC Americas.
This is not the first time a state seemingly opened up the option for election wagering only to shut it down. In 2020, West Virginia regulators briefly approved the market only to yank it down soon after.
Election betting remains largely illegal in the United States. Despite this, operators continue to petition regulators to offer the markets in the hope that one will take the risk in offering it and offers will follow suit.
While the election betting was pulled in Arizona, the Grammy markets remain up, joining the Emmys and Oscars. Arizona is one of the more progressive states when it comes to offering markets beyond just sports, but it seems that election betting is still a bridge too far for the state.
