They have long felt that card rooms in the state are operating outside the law.Ī coalition backed by the tribes has succeeded in collecting sufficient signatures to put a referendum that would authorize sports betting on the ballot in November 2022.ĭespite the state’s massive budget deficit, which is running at more than $50 billion, and the huge potential for sports betting to fill this hole with estimated revenues of $700 million or more each year, California has been slow to move to legalize sports betting. There are more than 60 casinos in California, all owned and run by Native American tribes. This is explained by the infamous complexity of the state’s politics, but also by the ongoing dispute between the owners of the state’s casinos and the people who run card rooms here. However, progress towards the legalization of California sports betting in the wake of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) being overturned in 2018 has been incredibly slow. The population is pushing 40 million, and the state is home to no fewer than 15 big four sports teams. Sportsbooks operating here would see revenue in the billions.Ĭalifornia has everything the sports betting industry could want. The size of the potential California sports betting market is staggering.
