Is sports betting legal in California?

For years California has been looking at the legalisation of sports betting in the state but it hasn’t been successful. Here’s why.

US.- Despite several attempts to pass legislation, sports betting remains illegal in California except for horseracing betting at official racetracks and daily fantasy sports, which are not officially legal but are not forbidden either.

The Californian gaming industry was for a long time focused on land-based tribal casinos and casino resorts.

A hearing on sports betting was held in January 2020 with the purpose of hearing experts’ opinions about the potential size of the sports betting in the state. However, there hasn’t been a lot of progression on the topic.

The main problem centres on the fact that a sports betting bill in the state will need the majority approval of two-thirds to be able to pass.

The easiest solution to that seems to be a possible legal agreement with the tribal casinos, giving them exclusive rights on sports betting. The tribal coalition has a lot of influence and has been collecting signatures for a future electoral initiative on sports betting.

This initiative will be on the ballot by the end of 2021 or 2022. It will need to be approved by the House and the Senate with a two-thirds majority.

The initiative proposes the legalisation of sports betting at land-based Indian casinos and Indian racetracks until tribes are ready to expand the market to include online sports betting.