Multi-million-dollar California sports betting petition war steps up
More than $200m contributed to constitutional amendment campaigns aiming to expand gambling as part of November 2022 ballot
California’s war to control sports betting has seen competing legislation initiatives receive more than $200m in funding from competing gambling operators, tribes and Golden State groups, according to the most recent campaign contribution information.
Latest to join this emerging fight is California’s cardrooms, who have lent their financial support to the Taxpayers Against Special Interest Monopolies (TASIM), a campaign launched in January.
TASIM is a coalition made up of the cardrooms, a number of local governments, city councilmen and the California Contract Cities Association – representing 74 cities across the Golden State. It opposes efforts by California’s native American tribes to maintain exclusivity on gambling in the state.
Specifically, the cardroom’s support focuses on tribal efforts to “weaponize” the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) to allow tribes to sue cardroom operators for operating certain types of card games.
This measure, if passed, TASIM claims would place more than 32,000 jobs at risk together with $1.6bn in wages, rounding out at a total economic impact of $5.5bn.
“The California Contract Cities Association overwhelmingly voted to oppose the qualified tribal gaming initiative as it will not benefit our residents or communities,” CCCA executive director Marcel Rodarte said.
“The proposed initiative also exploits the Private Attorneys General Act, opening the floodgates for frivolous lawsuits that will harm city revenues that fund vital city services such as roads, schools, homelessness services and fire protection,” Rodarte added.
According to latest campaign contribution information, four cardrooms have donated more than $14m to TASIM, which faces an uphill battle to upheave the ‘Coalition for Safe, Responsible Gaming’ tribal initiative which has already qualified for the next stage of the legislatory process.
To qualify, competing initiatives must gain almost one million signatures from eligible individuals in California by the end of June to be considered for a November 2022 ballot, according to the state’s constitution.
However, just two of the other competing initiatives are on track to hit this target.
One of these competing initiatives, the “California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support Act”, has been backed to the tune of more than $100m by a coalition of US operators including BetMGM, FanDuel and DraftKings.
A community-backed initiative which slams the “gambling power grab” taking place in California has received more than $7m in funding from a number of retail casino operators and local businesses.
A separate initiative backed by three of the state’s largest native American tribes entitled ‘Californians for Tribal Sovereignty and Safe Gaming’, sponsored by tribal organizations, has received more than $35m in funding from two of its tribal bodies.
This campaign recently launched an ad campaign aiming to discredit out-of-state gambling firms.