The latest efforts to have sports betting placed on the next California election ballot as a ballot initiative have been pulled following a lack of support from tribal groups.
This means that it could be another two years before any legislative attempts are made to legalize sports betting in the Sunshine State.
Earlier this month California’s Attorney General has published summaries for two separate ballot measures that seek to legalize both online and in-person sports wagering in the state.
Initiatives 23-0031 and 23-0030 A1 would have allowed the state’s tribes to launch both mobile and retail sportsbooks. Both initiatives, backed by Eagle1 partners Kasey Thompson, Reeve Collins and Ryan Tyler Walz, were given the go ahead by the Attorney General to enter the petition stage.
However, neither initiatives had the backing of tribal groups and in December the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) published an open letter to Eagle1 demanding the withdrawal of the initiatives. The CNIGA consists of 52 federally recognized tribal governments throughout California and in its letter, made it clear that there was no support from tribal groups for either initiative.
Speaking of the withdrawal of the initiatives, CNIGA Chairperson James Siva said:
“We are pleased that in the face of widespread tribal opposition, the backers of two initiatives have kept their word and withdrawn what we could only regard as a cynical attempt to legalize sports wagering and online betting in California. These initiatives attempted to use tribes’ good names to cleanse illegal offhsore, online gambling corporations with an appalling track record of malfeasance.
Let this failure also be a warning to others that seek to dubiously enter the California gaming market. Using tribes for your own gain will get you nowhere.”
An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City - Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.