Arizona Bingo Laws: Licenses, Prizes, and Penalties

Arizona bingo laws allow bingo only as a fundraiser for qualifying nonprofits, and every game must run under a state license issued through the Arizona Department of Revenue. The statutes in Title 5, Chapter 4 of the Arizona Revised Statutes control who can hold a license, how games are conducted, what prizes can be awarded, and where the money must go. Getting any of it wrong can cost the license or result in criminal charges.

Who Can Hold a Bingo License in Arizona

Arizona limits bingo licenses to four categories of nonprofits: charitable, fraternal, religious, and veterans’ organizations. Fraternal here means branches of national or state groups, not college fraternities. Each qualifying organization must have operated in Arizona for at least two years before it can apply, and each may designate one formally recognized auxiliary to serve as the licensee.¹

A few hard limits apply. No applicant gets more than one license. Licenses cannot be transferred or sold. If a license is revoked, the organization is barred from reapplying for five years.²

The Three License Classes

Arizona sorts bingo licenses into three classes tied to annual gross receipts. Each class has its own license fee, local governing body fee, and tax rate.

Class A covers organizations with annual gross receipts of $75,000 or less. The license fee is $10, the local fee is $5, and the tax is 2.5% of adjusted gross receipts.³
Class B covers receipts up to $300,000. License fee $50, local fee $25, tax 1.5% of gross receipts.⁴
Class C covers receipts above $300,000. License fee $200, local fee $50, tax 2.0% of gross receipts.⁴

Applying for a License and Renewing It

The Department of Revenue issues bingo licenses, but the application starts locally. Applicants submit the complete package to the city council if they are in an incorporated city, or to the county board of supervisors for unincorporated areas. That local body reviews the application, sometimes with a public hearing, then endorses it with a recommendation to approve or disapprove and forwards it to the Department of Revenue. A disapproval must include the reasons.⁵

The packet includes the main application, a signed local endorsement form, and sworn affidavits for key personnel. Every manager, supervisor, and proceeds coordinator files an affidavit stating they will follow the law and have no felony or moral turpitude convictions. Assistants must also file affidavits under Class B and Class C, but not under Class A. If the games will be held in a leased venue, the property owner files an affidavit disclosing the rent as a fixed dollar amount (never a percentage of revenue) and confirming a clean criminal record.⁵ Filing false information on the application is a class 6 felony.

Licenses last one year from the date of issue. Renewal requires a new application and the license fee before the expiration date. Arizona allows a 30-day grace period for late renewal, but you must pay a late penalty equal to the license fee, and no games may be conducted during the grace period. Miss the 30 days and you start over with a fresh application.²

Who Can Work and Play the Games

Only contractors, members, and new members of the licensed organization may help conduct bingo games. Outside help with no connection to the organization is not allowed, aside from a narrow exception for contractor personnel operating technological aids.⁶

There is also a rule that catches operators off guard: anyone working a bingo occasion cannot also play at that occasion, unless the games are running under a Class A license. Class B and Class C operations must keep workers and players separate.⁶

Frequency, Prizes, and Equipment

No licensee may hold more than five bingo occasions in a calendar week, and no premises may host more than twelve hours of bingo in a single day. Sharing a venue with another licensee does not extend either limit.⁶

Prize limits are strict. No single game can award more than $1,000, and total prizes for an occasion cannot exceed $3,000. Merchandise prizes are valued at current retail price. Nothing offered as a prize may be convertible to cash, and alcohol is never allowed as a prize.⁶

Equipment has to be owned outright by the licensee, or jointly by no more than six licensees, with no ownership stake held by anyone not licensed under Chapter 4. Regular bingo equipment cannot be rented. The one exception is technological aids that act solely as electronic substitutes for paper cards; those may be rented.⁷ The balls used must be uniform in size, shape, weight, and balance, and all of them must be in the receptacle before each game begins. Player cards come from a deck in which no two are identical, and the deck cannot be arranged to favor any card.⁸

How Bingo Money Must Be Spent

This is where Arizona’s bingo laws bite hardest. The full net proceeds must be used for the organization’s lawful purposes: its charitable mission or its operational aims. The statute also names specific uses that are off-limits.⁶

Net proceeds cannot compensate directors, officers, or management personnel.
Consultants cannot be paid out of bingo profits.
If the organization is charged with violating bingo laws and loses, bingo money cannot cover the legal defense.
Donations to organizations other than the national, state, or local nonprofit parent cannot exceed 5% of net proceeds without explicit permission from the licensing authority.
A lessor cannot funnel money back to the licensee.

Legitimate bingo expenses are limited to specific categories: prizes, equipment purchases, rent stated as a fixed dollar amount, accountant fees, license fees, utilities, security, advertising, and mortgage payments where the licensee uses the building for both bingo and charitable work. Worker compensation cannot exceed the federal minimum wage plus 20%.⁹

The 50% Rule for Class B and C

Class B and Class C licensees face a profitability floor. If net proceeds fall below 50% of adjusted gross receipts over any six consecutive months, the state presumes the expenses are illegitimate and the operation violates public policy. That presumption alone can trigger revocation. Class A is exempt from the threshold, though the general requirement to keep expenses reasonable still applies.⁹

Accommodations for Players With Disabilities

Arizona statute requires specific accommodations, not suggested ones. Operators offering electronic card substitutes must reserve at least two devices for players with disabilities. If no disabled player requests one within fifteen minutes of the scheduled start, the reserved devices can go to anyone. Players with disabilities cannot be charged a fee for the electronic substitute or held to any minimum purchase requirement tied specifically to those devices, though they must meet the same general minimum purchases required of all players.⁶

Players with disabilities may claim prizes by presenting a printout or other evidence of a winning card from a technological aid. Any player may use a visual or audio signal (a flag, paddle, light, horn, bell, whistle, or similar device) to announce a win. When a disability makes it hard for a player to mark cards, operate electronic aids, or call bingo, the operator must let another person help. Employees with disabilities may use electronic card substitutes while working.⁶

Records, Reports, and Inspections

Licensees have to report net proceeds from each game, the ratio of net proceeds to adjusted gross receipts, and how those proceeds have been or will be used.⁹ All bingo money must flow through a dedicated special account, and checks drawn against net proceeds can only fund lawful uses.

The licensing authority can examine books, records, and bingo paper inventory at any time as they relate to bingo operations. Records must be kept available for inspection for at least three years. Games have to be conducted and recorded in a manner the licensing authority prescribes so gross receipts from each occasion can be verified.¹⁰

Penalties for Breaking the Rules

Arizona treats bingo violations as criminal, not just administrative. Any licensee, officer, agent, employee, or other person who knowingly violates the bingo statutes commits a class 3 misdemeanor, unless a different classification applies to that specific violation. Filing a false report under the bingo laws is a class 6 felony.¹¹

On the licensing side, any violation of the statutes or rules can trigger forfeiture. A licensee whose license is forfeited becomes ineligible to apply for a new one for up to five years, and the same five-year bar applies to revocation.² For organizations that rely on bingo as a primary funding source, that five-year lockout is a serious reason to keep compliance tight from day one.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 5-401 – Definitions
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 5-403 – Qualification for License; Renewal; Transfer
3
Arizona Department of Revenue. Bingo in Arizona
4
Arizona Department of Revenue. Application for Bingo License Packet
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 5-404 – Application for License
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 5-406 – Persons Allowed to Conduct Games; Premises; Equipment; Expenses; Compensation
7
Arizona Department of Gaming. Notice to Bingo Licensees re SB1180
8
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 5-406 – Persons Permitted to Conduct Games; Premises; Equipment; Expenses; Compensation
9
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 5-407 – Statement of Receipts; Expenses; Penalty
10
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 5-408 – Examination of Books and Records
11
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 5-410 – Violations; Classification