California sports betting initiatives facing uncertain future as comment period ends
Tribal-facing ballot measures head for signature collection bow as tribal leaders circle the wagons
The latest ballot initiatives aiming to legalize sports betting in California are set to advance to the signature-gathering stage following the end of a mandatory commenting period.
The Tribal Gaming Protection Act and the Sports Wagering Regulation and Tribal Gaming Protection Act were both submitted to the California Attorney General’s office as prospective ballot initiatives on October 27, and have since passed a month-long commenting period.
Both measures can now commence signature gathering, which provisionally is due to end within four months, however the state does allow for up to six months for signature collection.
To qualify to appear on the November 5, 2024 general election ballot, the initiatives proponents will be required to collect 874,461 valid signatures from Californians over the four to six month period.
However, the passage of the measures to the next stage of the process comes amid scathing opposition from tribal gaming operators, the group which both measures would directly benefit through exclusivity in sports betting.
Chief among the group is the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), which represents some of the largest and most influential tribes in the state.
Earlier this month, CNIGA representatives voted unanimously to oppose the initiatives by 18 votes to zero, with the tribal gaming body angrily rebuking the petition’s authors former poker player Kasey Thompson and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Reeve Collins.
“The entire effort surrounding these initiatives was handled abhorrently by the initiative sponsors,” said CNIGA chairman James Siva in a statement on November 20.
“It is hard not to be offended when listening to these individuals speak. This is another example of outside influences trying to divide and conquer Indian tribes. We will not let history repeat itself,” he added.
Siva’s remarks refer to a similar 2022 ballot initiative by out-of-state gambling operators DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Fanatics among others seeking the legalization of sports betting via a state-wide referendum.
Proposition 27, as it was eventually known, aimed to legalize betting in California, with all proceeds going to support homelessness and social causes, and would have allowed both tribal and out-of-state operators to offer sports betting.
A rival ballot initiative, Proposition 26, backed by a coalition of some of California’s largest tribal casino operators, included sports betting-related measures allowing for in-person wagering at both tribal casinos and the state’s four licensed race tracks.
The two ballot initiatives battled it out for signatures in California, in what became a multi-million-dollar acrimonious lobbying campaign between the two competing interest groups.
However, both ballot campaigns failed to gain enough votes to pass, having been put to a statewide ballot on November 7, 2022.
Elsewhere, the California Attorney General’s Office will soon deliver a potentially damaging legal opinion on whether daily fantasy sports (DFS) contests can continue in the Sunshine State.
Requested by Senator Scott Wilk in October, the Attorney General’s inquiry focuses on the issue of whether Californian law prevents in-state DFS players from using DFS platforms, which may be located in or outside the state.
Central to this, is the assertion that DFS contests are games of chance and not games of skill, which would effectively make them an illegal form of gambling in the state, rather than exempting them under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2006 (UEIGA), as would be afforded to fantasy contests.
The inquiry comes at a difficult time for the DFS sector, which is currently facing increased scrutiny from regulators around the US over concerns about so-called pick’em games that many regulators have suggested mimic proposition-style sports betting.
However, it is understood that the California inquiry is not confined to pick’em games and focuses more broadly on the whole of the DFS product spectrum.