That’s the best thing for all tribes here in California,” Jesus Tarango, chair of the Wilton Rancheria tribe, said in an interview. “The main fight for us is to ensure we keep the corporations out of state from coming in. An ad campaign warns the proposal from “out-of-state corporations” would “break the promise” between voters and tribes. Eight months before the general election, they have matched gambling companies with a $100 million counteroffensive to block the competing initiative, calling it a power grab that violates the spirit of a 1998 California law that authorized tribal gambling and transformed tribes into formidable political players. “Our measure provides a number of benefits to California tribal nations.” “Our initiative is the only one that would raise hundreds of millions of dollars reach year in solutions to homelessness,” campaign spokesperson Nathan Click said. That may also play well with California voters, who routinely consider housing and homelessness among their top concerns. Gambling companies have framed this measure as an anti-homelessness initiative because a share of revenues would flow into local housing efforts - a sweetener that has brought on board big-city mayors, who have struggled to provide shelter for people during the pandemic. The competing proposal from international gambling companies would require the online platforms to partner with tribes and give them a cut. “It’s very clear that people in 20 want to do things online,” Giden said. People have already become accustomed to placing their bets on the web rather than going to a bookie and risking their kneecaps. It’s not difficult to see why internet wagering is a paramount concern: For every $10 wagered on sports, $8 to $9 are placed online, said Becca Giden, director of policy for the research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming LLC. Tribes have since begun gathering signatures to qualify another, online-focused measure, although they may have started too late to succeed.Ī customer places a bet at one of the new sports wagering kiosks at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn on Sept. After the betting platforms floated their online proposal, a trio of tribal chairs ominously warned colleagues they had to respond in kind or risk losing the larger struggle: the platforms prevailing “would accelerate the legalization of online gaming by non-tribal interests, threatening the existence of Indian gaming as we know it,” they wrote. The escalating standoff has also drawn in card rooms that offer limited gambling options outside of tribal land.Ĭontrol of online betting has become the crux of the dispute. The firms include BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, Bally’s Interactive and other big names. That measure is also expected to qualify for the November ballot given the pace of signature collection and the money at proponents’ disposal. Native American tribes had already qualified a ballot measure allowing sports bets on tribal land when international gambling companies made their play, committing $100 million to an initiative that would let them control online wagering. Rival interests have moved hundreds of millions of dollars into a campaign that could challenge spending records. The battle pits FanDuel and DraftKings, platforms that have dominated the new market, against incumbent tribes who warn their very sovereignty is at stake. Native American casinos, horse tracks, card rooms and platforms such as FanDuel and DraftKings are vying for control of a market that could generate tens of billions of dollars annually, reprising a power struggle that has already played out in states like Florida. Gamblers place their bets on sports for the first time at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., Thursday Sept. “A lot of people basically think the rest of the country will legalize if California does,” said Oklahoma State University professor John Holden, who has testified as an expert witness as states consider gambling legislation.Ĭalifornia must resolve its own differences first - no easy task for a state mired in longstanding gambling divisions that already blunted legalization efforts nearly two years ago. If California legalizes, sports betting is likely to become legal everywhere in the U.S. The explosive growth follows two-and-a-half decades in which Congress gave Nevada an effective monopoly on athletic wagering in America. have authorized sports betting, birthing a sector expected to generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue once those markets are fully operative. “This is going to be a half-a-billion-dollar battle for control of the most lucrative betting market in the world.” sports betting markets,” said Daniel Wallach, a Florida-based attorney who has advised various players in burgeoning sports wagering states.
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