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California Voters Reject Sports Betting Ballot 

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California residents have made it explicitly clear through voting that they do not want sports betting in their state.

Although both propositions 26 and 27 were rejected, Tuesday’s election wasn’t close. Check the current status of CA sports betting sites.

According to the California Secretary of State’s office, at approximately 7:30 a.m. E.T. on Wednesday, it was reported that Proposition 26 and 27 had been defeated. Of the voters, 29.9% supported Prop 26, while 16.6% approved Prop 27.

The campaigns against Prop 26 and Prop 27 quickly declared that the measures had failed, with both groups releasing press releases within two hours of polls closing.

Propositions 26 and 27

More than 50 Native American tribes came together to support Proposition 26. The measure would have allowed in-person sports betting at racetracks and tribal casinos, the latter of which would also add roulette and dice games to their options.

Proposition 27 was backed by prominent gambling companies. The proposition would have given permission for online sports betting sites to be available in the state from licensed operators that would need to join forces with a tribe for market access.

The two measures resulted in political fundraising totaling more than $400 million from tribes, online sportsbook operators, and cardrooms that campaign for or against specific initiatives. According to Ballotpedia, over $383 million was donated to support or oppose Prop 27, the costliest California ballot battle on record.

DraftKings and FanDuel both donated more than $30 million to the pro-Prop 27 campaign, while the Pechanga Band of Indians and the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria did likewise for the pro-Prop 26 campaign.

This means that sports betting will remain illegal in the state of California

For years, Californians have been eagerly anticipating the day when they could place bets on their favorite teams without having to drive out of state or resort to using illegal bookies. But it looks like we’ll be waiting a while longer, as the state legislature has once again failed to pass a bill that would legalize sports betting. This means that Californians will continue to miss out on the millions of dollars in tax revenue that could be generated by legal sports betting. Not to mention the fact that we’ll continue to be at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting professional sporting events since most states with legal sports betting offer incentives for teams to hold their events there. All in all, it’s a disappointing outcome for California sports fans.

Is this the final word?

The “Coalition for Safe, Responsible Gaming” said that the top priority of the tribes was defeating Prop 27. They also stated that their campaign did not spend any money on traditional advertising in support of Prop 26.

There is a possibility that betting sites such as DraftKings will try to open up in the state again in 2024. Legislation might be the answer, or tribes could take care of it amongst themselves. As of now, sports betting-related areas remain the same in the biggest state market within America.

An October survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found that only 34% of likely voters would approve Prop 26 and 26% would approve Prop 27, which is lower than recent polling had suggested.

After realizing they were losing, the gaming industry began to change its strategies.

Last week, Jason Robins, CEO of DraftKings, announced that the company would no longer invest any more money into the campaign to make online sports betting legal in their state.

Robins said that if another California ballot initiative passes, online sports betting could be legal in the state soon.

The DraftKings CEO said last month that there is a higher chance than not that this issue will be resolved by 2024.

In the end

In the end, it looks like the voters have spoken, and sports betting will not be legalized in California. The consequence of this is that sports betting would have generated millions of dollars in revenue for the state. However, there are some silver linings to this cloud. First, Californians will no longer have to cross state lines to place bets on their favorite teams. Second, the state will save money on law enforcement costs associated with illegal sports betting. And third, California can now focus on more pressing issues, such as legalizing marijuana and building a high-speed rail system. So while sports betting may not be coming to California anytime soon, there are still some positives to take away from the situation.

Conclusion

While sports betting remains illegal in California, there are some silver linings to this situation. First, Californians no longer have to cross state lines or resort to illegal bookmakers in order to bet on their favorite teams. Second, the state stands to save money on law enforcement costs associated with illegal sports betting. And third, California can now focus its efforts on more pressing issues such as legalizing marijuana and building a high-speed rail system. Overall, while the legalization of sports betting may be disappointing for many Californians, it is important to keep things in perspective and recognize that there are still some potential benefits from the current situation.

 

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About the author: Access Publishing

Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Connect with him on Paso Robles Daily News on Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog.