Tribal Operators Launch CA Ballot
A ballot proposal put forth by four tribal operators, the “Age Verified Tribal Online and In-Person Sports Wagering & Homelessness Solutions Act”, seeks to allow both in-person and online sports wagering to be conducted and regulated by tribal operators. These operations would be further regulated by the state of California and the federal government.
A ballot proposal put forth by four tribal operators seeks to allow both in-person and online sports wagering to be conducted and regulated by tribal operators in the state of California. ©jplenio/Pixabay
If Approved, Tribes Will Make Direct Payments to State to Combat Homelessness
The pressure for California to introduce sports betting is increasing, thanks to a new ballot measure introduced by four tribal operators that would bring sports betting to the Golden State if it is approved and passed further down the line.
The title of the proposal is the “Age Verified Tribal Online and In-Person Sports Wagering & Homelessness Solutions Act” and it seeks to allow both in-person and online sports wagering to be conducted and regulated by tribal operators. Additional regulation will be provided by the state of California and the federal government.
The proposal argues that the tribal operators are uniquely positioned as “the best entities to safely offer sports wagering”. It is currently backed by the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians, Wilton Rancheria, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.
The measure also reveals that, given the tribes are permitted to provide sports wagering, they have pledged to organize direct payments to the state of California directed at combating the issues of homelessness and mental health disorders.
In light of this, the tribes must contribute 10% of their adjusted sports wagering gross gaming revenue (GGR) to the California Homelessness and Mental Fund. They must additionally donate 10% of their GGR to the Tribal Sports Wagering Revenue Sharing Trust Fund.
To further sweeten the deal, the ballot measure emphasizes that the state of California will receive “hundreds of millions of dollars” in annual revenue as a result of the implementation of sports betting under the purview of the tribes:
“Our guiding principles formed the framework for this Initiative. In addition to protecting tribal gaming exclusivity and promoting tribal sovereignty, the Initiative provides benefits for limited gaming and non-gaming Tribes and a fund to help address homelessness and mental health. Further, the Initiative provides for an IGRA-governed environment for sports wagering and provides benefits for the State of California.”
Similar Ballot Measure Was Proposed in September 2021
The ballot measure proposed by four tribes to finally bring sports betting to the state of California is not the first of its kind — with another similar measure arriving in September 2021 courtesy of a number of commercial US operators.
The September proposal similarly focused on guaranteeing provisions for mental health and homelessness, however in contrast to this most recent one, Native American tribes would be permitted to offer statewide betting but only in partnership with commercial operators.
This particular measure ended up being backed by seven major US commercial operators: Bally’s, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel, Penn National Gaming and Wynn Interactive.
Just like the commercial-operator supported measure proposed in September, the tribal proposal would require signatures from 8% of the amount of people who voted in the previous gubernatorial election before it can be filed and placed on the ballot as a referendum.
This requirement is in place because the ballot measure seeks to enact an amendment to the state constitution. As of writing, the amount of signatures supporting the ballot as part of the current election cycle lies at 997,139. If the necessary number of signatures are acquired, the proposal will appear on the November 2022 ballot. And then, if passed, the bill will take effect no earlier than September 1, 2023
Bally’s, one of the key operators supporting the September ballot measure to introduce sports betting in California, had just experienced a positive Q2 2021 in terms of revenue results, stating that it had bounced back from the challenges of 2020 caused by widespread lockdowns due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic:
“We had record revenue and earnings performance in the quarter and remain confident that we will continue to benefit from rebounding demand across our land-based portfolio. Improved consumer confidence, minimal capacity restrictions and our disciplined operating strategy all contributed to extremely strong numbers across the board in the second quarter.”– George Papanier, CEO, Bally’s Corporation
Tribal Gaming Revenue Dropped in 2020
Meanwhile, figures released by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) in August 2021 reported gross gaming revenue figures for tribal gaming of $27.83 billion for 2020 — standing as a 19.5% decrease when compared to 2019’s figures.
The Sacramento tribal region, which encompasses California and northern Nevada, was the tribal region with the highest generated revenue for 2020. $8.40 billion was generated across these zones, though the total is still a 13.2% decrease from 2019’s results.
The reason for these lower results was unsurprisingly attributed to the lockdowns implemented in response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, with chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) E. Sequoyah Simermeyer saying such results were to be expected:
“This gross gaming revenue decrease was expected; the unknown was just how much of an impact COVID-19 had on Indian gaming. Every year, the annual GGR figure tells a story about Indian gaming’s successes, contributions to Indian communities, and economic impacts. This was highlighted even more during the pandemic.”– E. Sequoyah Simermeyer, Chairman, National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC)
