California tribal group slaps down sports betting propositions with “irrevocable” opposition
California Nations Indian Gaming Association slams outside interest groups behind voter initiative
The California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) has formally confirmed its opposition to a pair of voter initiatives aiming to bring sports betting to California.
The opposition came after CNIGA members met with the two main proponents of the initiatives, former poker player Kasey Thompson and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Reeve Collins, who initially filed with the California Attorney General’s Office in October.
At the time, there was speculation concerning the origins of these measures, which came completely out of the blue, as Thompson and Collins were unaffiliated with any tribal group.
CNIGA has previously expressed its disappointment over a lack of consultation by Thompson and Collins with its members, despite both initiatives geared around giving tribes exclusivity in sports betting, once legalized.
CNIGA members representing 52 tribes discussed the proposals in a meeting on Thursday (November 16), however, just 18 CNIGA members voted in the ballot to oppose the initiatives, with the rest abstaining from voting pending more information being supplied.
Despite the lack of a broad consensus on the issue, CNIGA chairman James Siva issued a statement on behalf of the association of vehement opposition.
“The entire effort surrounding these initiatives was handled abhorrently by the initiative sponsors. It is hard not to be offended when listening to these individuals speak,” Siva’s statement read.
“This is another example of outside influences trying to divide and conquer Indian tribes. We will not let history repeat itself.”
The chairman’s statement continued: “California tribes have been successfully engaged in the gaming market for more than four decades.
“This didn’t happen by mistake, nor without careful consideration on the effects to our members and our surrounding communities. Tribal leaders are the experts, and we will decide what is best for our people.
“Now that the sponsors have heard directly from tribes that their efforts are not supported, we call on them to drop the initiatives as they have pledge to do if tribes were to oppose them. Our opposition could not be more clear and is irrevocable,” Siva concluded.
Under the new initiatives, sports betting would operate in California under the ‘hub and spoke’ model, in which all sports betting transactions made online would be funneled through servers located on tribal lands, thus avoiding the contravention of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
All sportsbook operations would be required to be branded with a respective tribe’s federally recognized name, with all co-branding with another operator expressly prohibited.
Both petitions are currently listed on the California Attorney General’s Active Measures webpage, with comments accepted until November 27.
California’s tribes have previously attempted to legalize sports betting through their own ballot initiative, which was backed by a coalition of tribal operators, and was the subject of a multi-million-dollar campaign last year.
However that proposition, along with a separate initiative backed by some of the US’ biggest online sportsbooks, failed to receive the required support from California voters to pass.