Multi-million-dollar California sports betting initiative set for November ballot
$100m operator-backed campaign garners 1.6 million signatures from Golden State residents as fall fight for votes looms
A $100m multi-operator-backed initiative aiming to legalize sports betting in California is set to be put to a November 2022 vote, after securing more than 1.6 million petition signatures from Californians.
The “Californians for Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support” initiative has been backed by FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Bally’s, Penn National Gaming, and Wynn Resorts.
According to the campaign, 1.6 million signatures have been confirmed, however Californian election officials will now need to verify that 997,139 came from registered voters by a deadline of June 30 in order to be officially recognized for the ballot.
The initiative would see sportsbook operators gain access to the Golden State, at a taxation rate of 10%, with 85% of proceeds funnelled to homeless charities and 15% to so-called “non-participating” tribes.
Tribal operator licenses start at $10m, rising to $100m for a “qualified” operator which would be required to partner with a Californian Indian tribe in order to gain access to the market.
The colossal, qualified operator fee has drawn criticism from some quarters, with suggestions that it will kill access to the market for smaller sportsbook operators and startups.
The initiative also includes specifics on licensing, regulatory, consumer protection, and betting integrity standards for sports betting.
FanDuel owner Flutter Entertainment lauded the acquisition of the required signatures to qualify for the ballot as an “exciting” development, paving the way for a highly lucrative sportsbook market to emerge.
“Clearly, getting to this stage was not straightforward and we’re very, very happy to be on the ballot,” Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said.
“We’ve got a best-in-class campaign team that has had significant levels of funding, and ours is the only ballot that would bring hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue targeted at mental health and homelessness solutions, which are real critical imperatives in the state.”
Jackson continued: “It’s not impossible, for example, that our ballot can be passed, and for example that the tribal retail-only sports betting initiative could also be passed.
“They are not mutually exclusive, so we’re doing everything we can to ensure that ours will be successful. If we are successful and California adheres to the sort of timetable we expect, then we’d anticipate launching in time for the 2023 NFL season,” he added.
The measure is likely to go head-to-head with the aforementioned tribal initiative, the Californians for Tribal Sovereignty and Safe Gaming initiative, as well as a separate initiative, the Coalition for Safe, Responsible Gaming.
In the case of the first initiative, tribal operators have pledged more than $100m to defeat the online operator-backed campaign, launching a competing advertising campaign of their own.
California is the largest state in the US with a population of nearly 39 million, more than double that of New York state, which greenlit sports betting in January, enjoying a hugely successful debut.
The Golden State has the world’s fifth-largest economy with a gross domestic product of $3.36trn in 2021, exceeding other countries including the UK, India and France.