To paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of sports betting in California may have been greatly exaggerated. It could return to the ballot sooner than predicted.
The legalization of California sportsbooks could be put to the state’s voters as soon as 2026, leaving the matter to voters once again.
Notably, a group of tribal nation leaders that belong to the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) announced this week that they anticipate a new tribal-driven initiative would be ready for its members to consider for the 2026 election cycle.
In 2022, state voters rejected two ballot initiatives that would have made it legal to bet on sports in California, albeit under vastly different models. Those proposals failed due to contentious rancor over the way legalized betting would have been implemented, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars spent by what many saw as outside influences.
California is the largest state in the United States that does not have legal sports betting.
A new ballot initiative could bring legal sports betting to California
Further, it seems inevitable that Californians will get to determine the fate of legal sports betting again in the future.
After the disappointment at the ballot in 2022, it was speculated it could take several years. But, with the seventh-largest consumer market in the world, this state is an attractive space for gambling companies.
Bottom line, hundreds of millions, if not billions in tax revenue is being left on the table.
Under California law, a proposal can be placed on the ballot in one of two ways:
- The California State Legislature can vote to do so.
- If enough registered in-state voters sign a petition.
Following the failure of tribal nations to unite on one strategy in 2022, CNIGA apparently intends to form a path to legal sports betting that can result in compromise. Specifically, the two 2022 ballot proposals pitted large tribes vs. small tribes.
Prop 26 in 2022 was supported by smaller tribes. It required in-person registration and offered revenue sharing that would have allegedly benefitted more tribes. Prop 27, which was supported by FanDuel and other large sports betting companies, was a licensing model that would have resulted in online betting apps in much the way it’s been implemented in other states.
“The goal of the workgroup is to create some type of a draft, whether it is for ’26 or ’28, that hopefully is capable of receiving mass tribal support,” CNIGA Chairman James Siva told PlayUSA.
“We don’t want to relive the 2022 election campaign, where we had division amongst tribes on multiple fronts.”
A brief guide to renewed efforts to legalize California sports betting
- A tribal group hopes to unify its members on a single plan for legal sportsbooks in California.
- The goal is a ballot prop for the 2026 election cycle.
- Two ballot props failed in 2022 that could have legalized sports betting in different ways.
- Most tribal nations and large portion of citizens support some form of legal sportsbooks in CA.
- The sticking issue has been how to satisfy the competing desires of large and small tribes.
- Tax revenue from sports betting would help fund solutions to the California homeless problem.