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Wednesday, August 18, 2021
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Sports betting on Ahwatukee's doorstep BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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@AhwatukeeFN |
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s Arizona prepares to launch sports betting Sept. 9, the Gila River Indian Community is poised to become one of the big players after teaming up with the gambling world’s biggest operators. Ahwatukee will be right on the doorstep of the tribe’s brick-and-mortar venues.
While the Arizona Department of Gaming still must decide by the end of the month which of the 16 tribes competing for 10 licenses will be allowed to accept online and in-person bets on professional and college sports, a knowledgeable source said the GRIC is a sure bet to be one of the winning applicants. BetMGM announced last week partnerships with Gila River Hotels & Casinos and the Arizona Cardinals, stating that besides digital bet-
ting, it will set up sportsbooks at the Arizona Cardinals’ State Farm Stadium and at Wild Horse Pass, Lone Butte and Vee Quiva casinos. While online sports betting does a far greater business nationwide, retail sportsbooks’ revenue is nothing to sneeze at. And that’s why the brick-and-mortar sites will be offering more than, well, bricks,
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Athletes, coaches keep an eye on COVID-19 TU, Kyrene impose mask mandates after court ruling ................ See Page 6
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BY ZACH ALVIRA AND DREW SCHOTT AFN Sports Staff
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ith the high school football season only weeks away, the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s new COVID-19 guidelines are causing a stir among athletes and coaches at high schools in Ahwatukee and throughout the East Valley. Some of the key changes from last year’s guidelines open the opportunity for players with no symptoms to present negative tests to come out of quarantine after 10 days rather than 14. Teams as a whole can have a shorter quarantine period – 10 days from last known exposure – if an outbreak were to occur. But vaccinated coaches and players are excused from quarantine as long as they do not present virus symptoms. “We worked with our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee,” AIA Executive Director David Hines said. “They are our doctors, and they are in tune with what is going on across the board.
As high school football teams like Desert Vista’s Thunder practice for the upcoming season, which begins in a few weeks, coaches and players are keeping a wary eye on the surge in COVID-19 and hoping it will not disrupt their schedule like it did last year. (Zac Bondurant/AFN Contributor)
Vaccinations are available, that wasn’t the case last year. Just about all of our athletes are old enough to receive the shot. “The intention is, really, we would like to have teams not cancel games.” The AIA, like other entities, cannot to man-
date vaccines. The state law banning mask mandates by schools left it with the option to only “strongly encourage” mitigation strategies like masks and vaccines.
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