SAN DIEGO – If California’s Indian casino market wants to see sports betting legalized in the Golden State, the tribes need to come together and “get it right.”
Jacob Mejia, vice president of public and external affairs for the Southern California Pechanga Tribe’s development corporation, said the Indian casino community “needs to start doing the substantive work now” rather than wait to qualify a referendum on sports betting for the state’s general election ballot in 2020.
Jacob Mejia of Pechanga
“I think its important that tribes get in front of this issue to ensure we coalesce around specific policy goals,” Mejia said during a panel discussion on sports betting at the National Indian Gaming Association conference and trade show.
Stephen Hart, an attorney with Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie who has long worked on Indian gaming issues in California, asked rhetorically if anyone in the audience remembered Internet poker legislation. The state debated the topic for seven and tribes were never able to come to consensus.
California is the nation’s largest Indian gaming state, with nearly 70 tribes producing more than $8 billion annually in gaming revenue. Getting the tribes on the same page about sports betting is easier said that done. And the state’s card room industry – mini-casinos minus slot machines – and dozen-plus race tracks were only mentioned in passing.
“The bottom line is that if we can develop consensus, we can control the future of this gaming issue,” Hart said.
There are two ways to get sports betting legalization in front of California voters – have the state Legislature authorize the issue for the ballot, or collect signatures, which would be a more costly effort.
Mejia said California tribal leaders view sports betting as a serious issue. Of the seven states that joined Nevada in legalizing the activity following the Supreme Court’s ruling last May to toss out the Professional and Amateur Sports Protect Act, New Mexico is the only state where sports wagering is exclusively in tribal casinos.
Public opinion in California is also changing in favor of sports betting legalization. Mejia cited polling from 2017 showing that just 39 percent of residents supported sports betting, with 49 percent opposed. By last year, the numbers had effectively flipped, with 49 percent supporting sports betting legalization and 40 percent opposed.
Increased media attention toward the activity, especially with nearly two dozen states currently considering sports betting legislation, will continue to drive the poll numbers higher, he said.
Last month, the Associated Press reported that, as one of the nation’s three largest states, California would likely have trouble passing any sports betting laws. The state accounts for one-eighth of the U.S. population and has 16 teams spread among the four major professional leagues.
While Mejia expects sports betting legislation will be introduced sometime this year in the California Legislature, a referendum would be required to change the state’s Constitution to allow the activity. New California Governor Gavin Newsom was viewed by tribal leaders as friendly toward sports betting legalization. However, it’s not ranking high on his to-do list.
“It’s probably on page five, and there are 70 items on each page,” Mejia said. “But the administration is mindful of what we want to do.”
The issue that seems to divide the tribes currently is mobile sports wagering. Smaller tribes would rather drive customers to their casinos, rather than allowing wagers to be placed via a mobile device anywhere in the state.
Mejia said less than one-third of California residents surveyed said they would support mobile sports wagering. Panelists expected the number will flip in time.
Hart said mobile wagers account for 50 percent of all sports bets in Nevada. In New Jersey, the figure is 80 percent.
“I share Jacob’s concern that mobile gaming is different,” Hart said. “We don’t know which way the market is going. It’s going to be awhile before awhile before we know if mobile will be a component.”
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
