NEW: Turf Paradise Strikes Out On 4th Effort To Get an Arizona Sports Book License (READ Opinion)

Any bets on whether there will be an appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court, and what their decision will be? Don't try to place them at Turf Paradise.

The owners of horse racing track Turf Paradise today lost their fourth effort to get a coveted license to run a sports book in Arizona. The Arizona Court of Appeals issued an opinion today claiming that Governor Ducey's 2021 sports betting law excluded the track because it does not own "an Arizona professional sports team or franchise.”

The decision leaves T.P. Racing with only an appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court as its last gasp to keep up with the Harrah's and Fan Duel's.

The Turf Paradise owners were long-time contributors to outgoing Governor Ducey and Republican causes, but were left out of last year's major expansion of gambling. They then failed to convince an Arizona Department of Gaming Administrative Law Judge that they qualify under the statute, and lost in Superior Court.

Judge Paul McMurdie, writing for the unanimous court, made quick work dispensing of T.P.'s argument that the fact that the state's website noted that “Turf Paradise opened its doors (in 1956) becoming one of Arizona’s first sports franchises.” It may have been the first time an appellate judge has used the word "blurb" in an opinion. ("A website blurb about the history of horseracing in Arizona is too informal to bind the Department.")

The rest of the opinion worked to suss out what the Legislature meant when it used the word "franchise" in the new law. They could find no way to conclude that the Superior Court's (or the ALJ's) dismissal was a reversible error.

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