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Betting app owned by former Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo shuts down after team's demise

Portrait of Corina Vanek Corina Vanek
Arizona Republic

SaharaBets, the online sportsbook owned by former Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo, is halting operations and no longer accepting bets, the company announced Tuesday.

The company announced the betting platform no longer would accept wagers and encouraged bettors to withdraw funds from their accounts before Aug. 8. Wagering will remain open for the next 30 days to allow time for bets that have already been placed to settle, the company posted on X, formerly Twitter.

SaharaBets was the betting operator affiliated with the Coyotes. Meruelo sold the team’s hockey assets in April to the owner of the Utah Jazz, after being told by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman that Mullett Arena at Arizona State University was not suitable for NHL-level hockey.

Arizona Coyotes Chairman and Governor Alex Meruelo and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman during a news conference at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix. The NHL Board of Governors approved the relocation of the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City.

Plans for an arena in north Phoenix never materialized after the state canceled an auction scheduled for the land Meruelo had been eyeing, and Meruelo has reportedly walked away from his role as owner.

In Arizona, professional sports franchises and Native American tribes are allowed to apply for event wagering licenses. The state offers 20 licenses, 10 of which go to tribes and the other 10 go to sports teams. All gaming tribes are allowed to have retail sportsbooks inside casinos or facilities on tribal land, but the license also allows them to operate a mobile betting app.

With the Coyotes’ departure from Arizona, SaharaBets no longer was affiliated with an active professional sports franchise, meaning it likely was not compliant with the terms of its license.

Meruelo owns two casino hotels in Nevada, the Sahara Las Vegas and Grand Sierra Resort in Reno.

SaharaBets was consistently one of the smaller betting platforms in Arizona, according to Arizona Department of Gaming data. In April, the most recent month with wagering data available, about $900,737 was wagered on the SaharaBets app. That puts the platform at the fourth smallest in terms of money wagered for the month. Bally Interactive, Seminole Hard Rock Digital and Golden Nugget Online Gaming did less business in Arizona in terms of wagers placed during the month.

The largest sportsbooks in the state, Fan Duel and DraftKings, saw about $230 million and $210 million worth of wagers placed on their mobile platforms in April.

Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @CorinaVanek.