Judge refuses to block new Arizona sports betting law

By BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge is refusing to block a new Arizona law allowing sports gambling to be run by professional sports teams in a decision that will allow the major gambling expansion start as planned later this week. The decision Monday evening from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Smith means sports betting can start Thursday barring a successful appeal. The ruling came just hours after he held an unusual Labor Day hearing on the request filed by the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe. Smith rejected all the tribe’s arguments, including that the sports betting law violated the state constitution.