If House Bill 4308 is passed into law, the range of tribal gaming in the United States will increase dramatically. That’s because HB 4308 would consider any wager placed on a server on tribal land in the same light as a wager placed in a land-based casino – and that could throw a lot of new players into the increasingly crowded US sports betting market.
HB 4308 is being introduced by Congressmen Luis Correa of California and John Katno of New York and is aimed at updating the rules governing tribal gaming and bringing them in line with contemporary technology. In legal terms, the bill’s stated intention is to, “…remove federal barriers regarding the offering of mobile wagers on Indian lands when the applicable State and Indian Tribe have reached an agreement.” In practical terms, that means that tribal gaming interests could offer mobile sports betting without federal interference.
The move towards mobile wagering, which account for the lion’s share of sports bets in most states, is the stated impetus for updating the rules governing how Indian tribes, and their casinos, are governed. The current rules were written in 1988 and in no way anticipate the rise of internet gambling.
In a statement reported on by Affiliate Insider, Congressman Correa explained the proposed update saying, “As tribal governments begin to prepare to move their gaming activities into the online world, there have been some questions about whether such gaming activities would continue to be primarily governed by the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.”
HB 4308 is still in its early stages and it’s unclear when it could be put forth to a vote in Congress.