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California Sports Betting Bid Dies Down After Tribal Opposition
By Jeff Osienya Jun 25, 2020 LegalityAfter heavy opposition from the Native American tribes, COVID-19 delays and scheduling conflicts due to upcoming elections, lawmakers in California have abandoned their pursuit for the legalization of sports betting this year.The hopes of millions of bettors in California for regulated sports betting within state lines have been dashed after the Senate Constitutional Amendment 6 (SCA6) was officially removed from consideration by Senator Bill Dodd. SCA 6 would have been a direct ticket for the state to start authorization of retail and online sports betting across card rooms, tribal casinos, and racetracks all across the state.
Now that this bill has been shelved, it means that September 2023 is the earliest that bettors in The Golden State can expect to have a regulated sports betting market. Because the bill was seeking a constitutional amendment, it would have had to be approved by voters on the ballot as well, and in that case, such an effort is limited to election years alone.
This, therefore, pushes the sports betting bill to 2022 as it’s the next time that lawmakers in the state can get a constitutional amendment on the ballot. If you factor in the time it will take for the state’s gaming bodies and legislators take to draw up a framework for regulation according to the bill itself, the actualization of sports betting is further pushed to the following year.
SCA 6 was first tabled in 2018 by Assemblyman Adam Gray, right after the USA Supreme Court repealed the PASPA of 1992 that had banned sports betting countrywide except for a handful of states.
Strong Opposition from the California Tribes
As disheartening as it may be for sports enthusiasts across the state, Sen. Dodd emphasized that this setback was only temporary, insisting that they will live to fight another day, come 2022. He added that some of the main reasons why the bill was shelved were as a result of the tight schedules imposed by the upcoming presidential elections in November, and of course, time constraints due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
While the November presidential elections and the COVID-19 crisis were stumbling blocks for the progression of SCA 6, the strong opposition from Native American tribes in California was also a massive impediment for the movement of the bill.
For regulation of sports betting in The Garden State, SCA 6 was one of the two choices that voters would have had to pick in 2020. Opposing the SCA 6 bill, was a ballot referendum that proposed exclusion of card rooms from the list of authorized sports betting facilities, backed by an alliance of tribes in The Garden State. The tribes also proposed for the exclusion of wagering on local amateur teams and there was no mention of an option for mobile sports betting in the referendum.
After the SCA 6 bid was shelved, a spokesman of one of the Native American tribes in the state even came out to say that the SCA 6 failure was a “welcome development”. Well, you wouldn’t blame the tribe’s opposition if you considered that The Garden State is the largest market for Indian Gaming across the USA. It records annual revenue of over $8 billion and employs over 32,000 residents.
The Tribes Must be Consulted for Sports Betting to Become a Reality
Without the tribes, there’s no probable way that sports betting can be regulated in the state. Apart from the tribes, the cardrooms are also the other key stakeholders in the industry. With the tribes and the cardrooms being at opposite ends of this fight, legislators can’t attain the rock-solid two-thirds majority vote needed for a constitutional amendment.
Assemblyman Adam Gary and Senator Dodd had tried to push for the sports betting amendment citing a budget deficit of $54 billion that the state is currently facing after the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the economy. It would be a rich opportunity for an increase in revenue to prevent looming budget cutbacks, as a regulated market would rake in $250 million in licensing and tax revenue within the year and $500 million upon maturity, at least according to Dodd and other sponsors of the bill.
The tribes on the other hand are currently seeking the court’s permission to collect more signatures to try and get their referendum to the November ballot. The case will be heard on 2nd July.
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