DECEMBER  2021

Controversy in California. NEVER!

The California ballot is going to have quite a few measures on it in 2022.  There may very well be four sports wagering measures.

In 2018 the United States Supreme Court ruled that sports betting was legal. Other states and major professional sports leagues have struck deals with major online betting operations.

However, the California Legislature could not develop a system that would satisfy all stakeholders. Therefore, this being California, the issue goes to the ballot.

1.   Major casino-owning tribes have a measure that would extend their gambling monopoly to sports wagering.

2.   A tribal measure would require sports wagers to be placed either in existing casinos or in locations owned by the tribes. It would also allow sports wagers at major horse racing tracks but would not allow online bets on sports events.

3.   DraftKings and FanDuel (two major online wagering outfits) pledged millions for a third measure that would allow them to operate in California. They have received support from some big city mayors because they have promised their proposal would give money towards the homeless problem. 

4.  The Graton-Rancheria and two other casino-owning tribes are floating a fourth measure that would allow online betting controlled by the tribes. It is a hedge against the DraftKings and FanDuel measure because it assumes that given a choice between betting online or going to a casino to place a bet, gamblers would prefer the former.

No surprise.Millions are already being spent by the backers of these four measures.Dueling public relations campaigns will spend millions on each of these measures. A lot of money you may ask. The money spent on the campaign will be pocket money compared to the billions that will flow through whichever interest can claim legal authority.

If the legislature could actually get its act together and solve the problem legislatively there might not be a need for ballot measures which of course cost the state money.