California tribes sue the state

California tribes have filed a lawsuit against the state demanding more time to qualify legal sports betting proposal.

US.- California tribes have filed a lawsuit against the state of California seeking more time to qualify the state’s sports betting initiative for the statewide ballot in November.

The Coalition to Authorize Regulated Sports Wagering, which comprises more than 25 tribal nations, argues that the Coronavirus shutdown has kept them from collecting enough voter signatures to meet the deadline to get the initiative on the November ballot.

The tribes had begun collecting the nearly 1 million signatures needed to put the issue on November’s ballot before the Coronavirus pandemic hit the United States in mid-March, but were forced to stop when the lockdown began.

The lawsuit asks for a 90-day extension on the signature-gathering process, which is set to expire on June 25.

In the proposed legislation, tribes would be granted rights to sports betting and would also gain the ability to offer craps and roulette, but would share rights to house-backed card games like blackjack with the state’s commercial cardrooms, which are currently only allowed to offer spread poker.

If their sports betting proposal passes the referendum, tribes would keep exclusivity on all house-backed games, while still gaining the rights to offer sports betting.