Cities in the state of California are keeping the sports betting conversation alive as they look to get an initiative on the ballot in November 2020. The California Sports Wagering and Consumer Protection Act was sent to the Attorney General this week, and the next step is for that office to create a summary of the initiative.
After a summary has been created, the cities will then begin collecting the required number of signatures to get the proposal on the ballot. A group of California Indian Tribes have already been successful in filing a petition to get their own sports betting initiative on the ballot.
The cities in California are hoping to legalize sports betting in an effort to recoup some of the financial losses that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. There weren’t many details included in this initiative, but the costs of a sports betting license would be extremely high.
Nearly one million signatures are required before an initiative will end up on the ballot, and that won’t make this effort easy.
Where Does this Leave Card Rooms?
Cardrooms in the state of California act like commercial casinos, although they are limited to the amount and type of games that they can offer. These card rooms have continued to fight to be included in the sports betting discussion, but that hasn’t happened up to this point.
Native American tribes have left the card rooms out of the discussion completely, and cities in the state are looking to do the same thing. It might take another initiative from the card rooms if they plan to be included in California sports betting.
Lawmakers Still Want Control
Lawmakers in the state of California have attempted to legalize sports betting since 2020, but those efforts have always fallen short. It appeared as if there was some serious momentum in 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic took away some of the focus.
If the state was in control of the sports betting industry, then there would be more groups and organizations that could offer sports betting. Lawmakers in California will have to act quickly in 2022 if they want to get a law passed, but it might not matter if the other constitutional amendments pass.
California Could Become Major Market
If sports betting were to be legalized in the state of California, then it would have a huge impact on the current sports betting industry. California would be the most populous state to offer sports betting, but that isn’t the only reason that the market would take off.
This is a state that is loaded with popular professional and college teams, and those teams would help drive sports betting. Professional teams have also expressed interest in legalizing sports betting, but they want to be able to benefit from the new industry as well.
California is a state that would see competition from both Nevada and Arizona, but this state could emerge as a sports betting leader in a short period of time.
