California, the largest potential sports betting market in the USA, is giving its voters a chance to weigh in on the question of legal sports betting in November. Two different options are expected to be on ballots, representing two very different directions the state could go with legal sports betting.
Disagreement between various parties
The state of California is a hot topic in
legal gaming news
right now. With such a large amount of potential sports betting revenue at stake, it is no surprise that many companies and groups want a piece of California’s legal sports betting action. While there is significant momentum among state residents for legalization, the key operators have wide gaps in their vision of the perfect California sports gambling marketplace.
Native American tribal operators have long enjoyed exclusivity in operating California’s brick and mortar casinos. They have shown no interest in having any outside operators involved in legal sports betting in the state. Tribal operators have already secured a spot on the ballot for their measure legalizing sports betting in California. That initiative will be presented to voters, and while it legalized sports betting in the state, it grants tribes exclusivity in the market. It does not allow for any
online sports betting
in the state, with all wagers required to be made in retail sportsbooks located within tribal casinos.
A totally different take from international operators
FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Bally’s Interactive and many more
top bookmakers
have joined forces to sponsor another ballot measure. They expect to have enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot well before the June deadline, and they have committed $100 million towards getting the measure passed. Their version of legal California sports betting would allow tribal operators to take wagers in their retail casino sportsbooks, but it would also allow private companies to operate online sportsbooks as well.
In addition to expanded options for legal California sports betting, the proposed legislation would allocate a share of the tax revenue generated to fighting homelessness in California. Housing issues are a major concern for California voters, and this effort by sportsbook operators has been viewed in a positive light by city mayors and other influential state figures. With the massively increased potential to generate revenue by accepting online wagers, the proposal that allows for online sports betting projects to generate significantly more tax revenue for the state than the tribes’ ballot initiative.
Tribal operators have committed $100 million of their own to fighting the measure, arguing that companies like DraftKings and FanDuel do not have the technology required to properly age verify online bettors. They also make the claim that allowing non-tribal operators to participate in the legal sports betting market would violate the intent of a 1998 law that granted tribes exclusivity over casino gaming, in spite of the fact that sports betting was illegal at the federal level in 1998 and the 1998 law makes no mention of sports betting at all, as it only covers typical casino gaming.
Domino effect could be huge from the country’s most populous state
Legal sports betting has plenty of momentum already, being legal already in more than half the states with more in various stages of bringing legal sports betting to market. Experts predict that California legalizing sports betting would influence the remaining holdout states to give up their efforts, accelerating nation-wide legalization. While some political studies show that when competing measures are on a ballot that it incentivizes some voters to vote against all of the, overall polls in the state make it likely that one of the two measures will pass.
It seems like a matter of if, and not when, sports betting will become legal in California. With voters not getting to weigh in until November, 2023 is the earliest we could see Californians begin placing legal sports wagers. The next seven months will see a fierce battle for voters, with both sides heavily invested. Should this measure fail, future initiatives could become even more contentious as the state’s many sports teams and card room operators might decide they would like a piece of the action that the tribes and big corporations are currently fighting over.
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