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Vol. 78 No. 38
Inside This Week
State Farm Stadium debuts BetMGM Sportsbook BY DAVID MEDINA
T
Glendale Star Staff Writer
BUSINESS .... 13 Pyramix Studios brings energy to its recordings
SPORTS ........ 14 Paul, Silva show mutual respect ahead of matchup
September 22, 2022
he Arizona Cardinals have made history by becoming the first NFL team to have a sportsbook at their stadium with the opening of the BetMGM Sportsbook at State Farm Stadium. Debuting just days prior to the Cardinals matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, the BetMGM Sportsbook was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting event by Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill, BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt, MGM Resorts International CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. While the event is groundbreaking in the NFL world, it’s nothing new to the world of Arizona sports venues. The Phoenix
Suns debuted the FanDuel Sportsbook at Footprint Center in September 2021, and the Arizona Diamondbacks opened up the Caesars Sportsbook at Chase Field this past June. Since its launch in September 2021, legal sports betting has taken Arizona by storm. According to a study, Arizona bettors wagered over $1.7 million on online gambling apps in the little under four months where it was legal in 2021, and over $3.3 million so far in 2022. Sports betting has been all the craze in Arizona, and the Cardinals wanted to find a way to integrate it into the State Farm Stadium gameday experience. At the ribbon-cutting event, Greenblatt expressed his excitement about working with the Cardinals.
“Right from the start, the Arizona Cardinals shared BetMGM’s passion for the pursuit of improving fan experience to breaking down barriers, and together this is what we’ve done,” Greenblatt said. “I cannot express how historic a day this is here in Glendale, Arizona. The opening of the first sportsbook on an NFL property is truly a milestone event.” While there are countless different sportsbooks that the Cardinals could have partnered with, Bidwill said that it was an easy choice to partner with BetMGM. “We wanted to make sure that we aligned with world-class partners, and we did when we teamed up with BetMGM,” Bidwill said. “Everything quickly came together, SEE SPORTSBOOK PAGE 8
Glendale City Council approves rezoning of 188 acres BY JORDAN ROGERS
A
Glendale Star Staff Writer
FEATURES .... 20 Local organization’s 5K race helps cancer patients
OPINION.......................... 10 BUSINESS.......................12 SPORTS ...........................14 CALENDAR .....................16 FEATURES.......................18 RELIGION ........................22 YOUTH.............................23 CLASSIFIEDS ..................25
s a result of a private collaborative effort, the Glendale City Council recently voted to approve the rezoning of 188 acres for mixed-use development. This zoning action is significant, as it is the largest strategically positioned shovel-ready mixed-use site in Maricopa County. “We’re really starting to really see just how many natural assets we have,” City Manager Kevin Phelps said. “We’re starting to leverage those assets, and it’s been our goal from day one to be a community of choice. You can live and work anywhere
“Vision 2” is located just south of Glendale Avenue and west of the Loop 101. (City of Glendale/Submitted)
in this fantastic Valley. We’ve got great cities all throughout the Valley, but we want people to select Glendale by choice.” Dubbed “Vision 2,” the private collab-
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orative effort has been in the works for a while. As the space was initially home to two separate parcels, Phelps said the city SEE REZONING PAGE 4