Arkansas Casino Faces Resistance in Push for Online Gambling

Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, is pushing for a rule change to legalize online casino gambling in the state, according to KATV. However, the company faces opposition from Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort officials, who argue that this expansion could hurt brick-and-mortar casinos and reduce state revenue.

“We actually hope to make this case to the Arkansas Racing Commission, and it would exactly mirror what we did with sports betting,” said Carlton Saffa, Saracen’s CMO. “Because, with sports betting, we said ‘let’s go from the four walls of the casino to the four borders of Arkansas.” 

Saracen argues that legalizing online gambling would prevent players from visiting illegal gambling sites and has already begun developing a potential app titled “Play Saracen.”

“This would represent a major expansion of gaming in Arkansas and should not be rushed into without understanding its impact on our state,” said Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration secretary Jim Hudson. “I share the concerns about foreign illegal gaming, and DFA is committed to working with our casino partners and law enforcement to address it.”

The casino also proposes a deal in which half of the funds would go towards recruiting athletes to Arkansas universities.

“There’s this incredible bonus, and that is that we can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars a week to fund the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) needs at every college in Arkansas,” added Saffa.

Oaklawn opposes

Meanwhile, Saracen’s biggest competitor, Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, is against the idea. 

As reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Oaklawn President Louis Cella added that with online gambling, Arkansans would “have less discretionary funds to spend within their local communities, causing a decline in sales tax collections for public services.”

“I believe Oaklawn’s opposition is based in the fact that the Saracen sportsbook books about three times as many wagers online as Oaklawn does,” Saffa told KATV. “We’re the new kid on the block, we’re the new casino in Arkansas, but we are not afraid to innovate and to hustle and we know that the internet is where this is going.”

Current gambling laws

Arkansas has been home to land-based casino gambling since April 2019, when the first two casinos opened, including Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort and Southland Gaming & Racing.

Saracen Casino opened its doors in October 2020 and is home to around 1,700 slot machines, 40 table games, and BetSaracen, the largest sportsbook in the state. However, with online casinos yet to be made legal, players must visit land-based venues to play games like slots, blackjack, roulette, and craps.

Following the overturning of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, Arkansas sports betting became legal, making it one of the first states outside of Nevada to do so. Online sports betting is also legal in Arkansas and went live in March 2022.

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