Arizonian Tribal Gaming

Casino gaming operations in Arizona take place on tribal lands under the Arizona Tribal-State Gaming Compacts, which were amended in 2021 and are effective for 10 years, renewable for another decade and an additional two-year term. Currently, 16 Arizona tribes operate 25 Class III casinos in the state. Six other tribes do not have casinos but have slot machine rights that they may lease to other tribes through transfer agreements. The amended compacts set a maximum of 1,400 gaming machines per facility, and up to 100 card game tables at facilities more than 40 miles from a municipality with over 400,000 people (150 tables if within 40 miles). As of January 2022, approximately 550 card and table games were in operation statewide.
The amended compacts also created the Compact Trust Fund to provide economic benefits to tribes impacted by gaming, including those that do not operate casinos.

In August 2004, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. cleared the way for gambling at five tribal chapters, including two in Arizona, by not acting on legislation passed by the Tribal Council. The council had voted 59-14 for a proposal to legalize gambling in the Shiprock, Hogback and Manuelito chapters in New Mexico and the Nahata Dziil and Leupp chapters in Arizona. Both Arizona chapters are on Interstate 40 in northeastern Arizona and are considered prime locations for drawing crowds into casinos.

In January 2008, a group of former Navajo Nation leaders and grassroots supporters filed litigation to prevent the Nation from concluding a $100 million loan agreement with JP Morgan Chase to finance gaming. Their main concern was that the Nation's permanent trust fund could be required as collateral on the loan. In the same month, the tribe announced its plans to lease rights to some of its slot machines to Arizona tribes who already have gaming. In March 2008, an agreement was signed between the tribe and the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise for a $35 million line of credit to begin building a casino. There were several safeguards put into place, notably that the tribe would have seven years to repay the loan at 11% interest. The agreement is a line of credit, meaning interest will only accrue on money that was actually spent, allowing the tribe to build in phases.

In 2013, the Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort in Flagstaff held its grand opening.

In 2015, the Tohono O'odham Nation opened Desert Diamond Casino – West Valley in Glendale, and in 2017, San Carlos Apache opened Apache Sky Casino in Dudleyville.