A Native Tribe Group Hopes for a Sports Betting Ballot in CA in 2026
California could return the ballot initiative to voters as soon as 2026 to decide whether the state will have legal sportsbooks.
California could place the issue of legal sportsbooks on the ballot as early as 2026
If Tribes Have Their Way: CA Will Place Issue of Legal Sportsbooks on Ballot in 2026
In 2022, the State of California suffered two defeats in an attempt to legalize sports betting. A pair of ballot proposals failed that November, sunk by several missteps. California residents may get to vote up or down on legal sportsbooks again as soon as 2026 if a tribal group has its way.
The California Nations Indian Gaming Association met and outlined plans to get sports betting back on the statewide ballot soon. The challenge is getting bipartisan support from its members, mostly smaller and mid-sized CA tribal nations.
“The goal of the [CNIGA] workgroup is to create some type of a draft, whether it is for [the 2026 or 2028 ballot], that hopefully is capable of receiving mass tribal support“, said CNIGA Chairman James Siva.
In 2022, Props 26 and 28 failed when large and small tribes essentially opposed one another on how sports betting should be licensed in California. Also at issue was how tax revenue would be earmarked in the state, which is the largest economy in the United States and one of the ten largest in the world.
Companies like BetMGM and FanDuel are anxious to enter the CA market. In 2022, FanDuel and its competitors spent hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying for an advantageous sports betting law. CNIGA wants to achieve legalization that will benefit all tribes, says Siva.
Next Steps for California Sports Betting Legalization
The next steps are a draft of a ballot proposal and legalization that could be placed in front of CNIGA member tribes for approval. If that happens, the organization could begin efforts to acquire the public signatures necessary to force the issue back to the ballot. A simple majority vote would pass the proposal, and send the matter to lawmakers and regulators to implement a CA sports betting market.
The stumbling blocks for sports betting in CA are whether the state will be comfortable with big gaming corporations establishing a market and sharing the tremendous revenue up for grabs. Some in California want a high tax rate on gross gaming revenue, as we see in New York. However, smaller tribal nations want a much larger stake in the structure of licensing to ensure they can receive much-needed revenue.
However, the state formulates a CA sports betting regulatory agency, they will feel the pressure from the citizenry, which wants legal sportsbooks. The alternatives are offshore illegal sportsbooks, social sports betting apps like Fliff, or travel across state borders to Nevada and elsewhere.
