The Latest MLB News on the Ups and Downs of Sports Betting in California
Written by ABC AUDIO on December 13, 2022
With the help of local teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and San Diego Padres, Major League Baseball became the first professional sports league to support statewide mobile gaming initiatives in the state of California back in August. This accomplishment made MLB the first professional sports league to do so.
It was one of the most expensive ballot measures in California’s history, with coalitions supporting and opposing competing propositions to expand OKBET Betting Partners in the state each spending more than $450 million on their respective campaigns. These propositions were referred to as Proposition 26 and Proposition 27, respectively.
Despite this, the largest market in the United States is still not open to legally sanctioned betting on sports because two gaming propositions were soundly defeated in November. Some estimates suggest that the steps that would have been taken to legalize sports betting in California would have enabled gaming companies to bring in an additional revenue of billions of dollars.
Proposition 26
Prop. 26 would have authorized sports betting on the premises of California tribal casinos, in addition to allowing those casinos to offer roulette and craps as table games. This initiative was supported by a large number of Native American tribal governments in the state of California.
Proposition 27
Proposition 27, which would have legalized betting on sports via mobile devices and online platforms within the state, received support from major gaming companies. It was put on the ballot by sports betting companies that have expanded their business across the state since the federal ban on sports betting was overturned by the United States Supreme Court in 2018.
Native American tribes that operate land-based casinos opposed the proposition out of concern that it would cut them out of a burgeoning market for sports betting. This fear led to the proposition’s defeat.
Spending Slowed
However, after Labor Day, the campaigns that supported both initiatives essentially threw in the towel and stopped making any further public statements. The decline in spending coincided with hints from executives at the leading sportsbooks that legalization wouldn’t be possible before 2024 at the earliest.
Despite the deluge of money that was spent, the voters never really seemed to care about the outcome of the sports betting debate. A survey conducted in October by the Public Policy Institute of California found that only 21% of likely voters thought the result of Proposition 26 was “significant,” and that less than a third of likely voters said the same thing about Proposition 27. Throughout the campaign, the measures received very little support from the general public in polls and surveys.
