On April 28, the Kansas Senate and House of Representatives formally validated a resolution permitting Prairie Band Casino & Resort, a tribal casino in northeast Kansas, to offer sports wagering.
Vote of the Senate and the House on the resolution:
Reflecting on the Senate and House votes, the Senate on Friday voted 27-8 to validate SR 1725, aka the aforementioned resolution, which would amend the gaming compact with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation regarding sports betting.
However, The House of Representatives voted 93-27 to validate its own version of the resolution, named HR 6026, to complete the agreement approval by the Legislature.
Furthermore, with these approvals, Prairie Band Casino & Resort has a strong chance to offer sports wagering by the end of this summer.
New compact:
“The Secretary of the Senate shall send an enrolled copy of this resolution to the governor, the secretary of state and the chairperson of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation,” according to the resolution.
Furthermore, the new compact would enable Prairie Band Casino to offer sports betting on-site or via apps partnerships. However, players using the apps would be allowed to wager only on the tribe’s reservation.
During Thursday’s meeting, the joint committee voted unanimously to adopt the compact amendments.
In this regard, Zach Pahmahmie, Tribal Counsel Vice Chair, in an interview Thursday, said: “Our original gaming compacts did not permit the nation, or all four tribes in the state of Kansas were prohibited in actually taking part in sports wagering, so the very fundamental step moving forward was to change the language in the original compact to of course permit that.”
About:
Owned and operated by the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, the Prairie Band Casino & Resort, formally known as Hurrah’s Prairie Band, is located in Mayetta, Kansas, about 15-minutes north of Topeka on US-75 highway. The property features 297 guestrooms, landscaped courtyard with two hot tubs, award-winning 18-hole golf course, gift shop, convenience/gas store, 67 pull-through space RV Park and a multipurpose convention center with banquet facilities. Other amenities at Prairie Band Casino & Resort include three restaurants, a lobby bar and coffee bar.
The property’s 35,000 square foot casino includes more than 1,200 slot machines including video poker, skill-based slots and high limit slots, as well as more than 30 table games and a 400-seat state-of-the-art bingo hall.
It was initially managed by Harrah’s Entertainment under a management agreement with the tribe until July 1 2007, when the tribe took over operations.
In addition, it was officially put into operation in January 1998.
