Poll: More than half of Arizonans likely to support sports betting

PHOENIX — On May 14, the United States Supreme Court broke a longtime ban regarding the legalization of sports gambling.

Despite opposition from the major sports leagues and the Trump administration, the high court struck down a federal law that had barred betting on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states.

Looking at the Copper State, FirstStrategic compiled a poll of 703 likely general election voters, 53 percent women and 47 percent men, to see how they felt on the potential of sports gambling in the desert.

When asked how likely they were to support legalized sports betting, 51.49 percent of voters were for it, while 40.11 percent opposed.

Adding in that the revenue from legalized sports gambling could go toward education, road improvements and other public resources, the number of voters likely to support gambling ballooned to 67 percent, while 24 percent of those polled were less likely.

Among those options, education, which has been a focal point in Arizona for much of 2018, won out by a mile.

Looking at the five choices in the poll, education garnered 53 percent of the vote, followed by law enforcement (13 percent), roads (12 percent), homelessness (11 percent), other (11 percent).

The poll concluded that Arizona voters are likely to support the notion of legalized sports betting, but adding in the factor of generating revenue for education and other public resources, the support grew significantly.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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