California Governor sounds death knell for operator-backed sports betting bid
Gavin Newsom joins ever growing list of opposition as multi-million-dollar campaign set for defeat
California’s Governor has seemingly hammered the final nail in the coffin of an operator-backed ballot initiative to widen sports betting access by voicing his opposition to the controversial measure.
Proposition 27 is set to be put to a public vote in the Golden State as part of the biannual elections on November 8, however, many voices are already suggesting it will fail to persuade voters at the ballot boxes.
Governor Gavin Newsom, who has previously not spoken about either Proposition 27 or its main rival, tribal operator-backed Proposition 26, issued a statement decrying the 27 campaign, citing the potential consequences for the state.
“Proposition 27 is bad for California,” Newsom said in the statement.
“It would hurt California’s Indian tribes, increase the risks of underage gambling, and push billions of dollars out of California and into the pockets of out-of-state corporations.
“Vote ‘No’ on 27,” the governor concluded.
Newsom’s stunning rebuke is the latest in a series of high-profile figures and groups to voice their opposition to the 27 campaign, which has been backed to the tune of almost $170m by the five-strong operator coalition.
Other voices of opposition include the L.A. Times newspaper, California’s Democratic and Republican parties, as well as a slew of local interest groups. The highest-profile advocate for Proposition 27 has been Major League Baseball, which voiced its support for the campaign in August.
San Manuel Band of Mission Indians chairwoman Lynn Valbuena welcomed the statement from Governor Newsom.
“We thank him for standing with us to protect our sovereignty,” Valbuena said.
“Tribal gaming in California is beneficial for tribes and for all of California. Prop. 27 would allow out-of-state corporations to interrupt that mutually beneficial relationship.
“Thank you Governor Newsom for defending the best interests of tribes and all Californians,” she added.
The San Manuel Tribe is one of the largest donors to the rival Proposition 26 campaign, which aims to give tribal operators control over sports betting in the state.
While the measure has ostensibly won the battle against its out-of-state operator-backed rival through an intense advertising and public messaging campaign, many are tipping the tribal-backed bid to also be rejected by Californians at the polls.
This has been supported by a number of polls surrounding the campaign, the latest of which, conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, suggested just 27% of Californians would support Proposition 27, compared to 53% who oppose it.
In respect of the tribal campaign, recent polling numbers are a little more favorable, with polling conducted by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) indicating 31% support for the campaign compared to 42% in opposition.
CEOs of DraftKings and FanDuel, Jason Robins and Amy Howe, respectively, have also admitted that Proposition 27 will likely fail, with both suggesting the group would try again in 2024.
At the recent G2E conference, representatives of the tribal-backed bid slammed tactics used by the ‘yes on 27 campaign’, and also suggested it had underestimated the resources and resilience of the tribal coalition.