California Tribes Set To Begin Drafting Next Sports Betting Initiative

California tribes are preparing to restart sports betting discussions with the intent of creating a ballot initiative.

Tribal leaders at the last California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) meeting decided to reorganize the sports betting workgroup.

The workgroup met last year before tribes decided they would not file an initiative for the 2024 election. It is planned to reconvene by the end of this month.

CNIGA Chairman James Siva told PlayUSA that, this time, he expects the workgroup will draft a sports betting initiative for tribes to consider putting on the ballot in 2026 or 2028.

“The goal of the workgroup is to create some type of a draft, whether it is for ’26 or ’28, that hopefully is capable of receiving mass tribal support,” Siva said. “We’re hoping to get out in front of this and work amongst tribes to have those difficult conversations and get to the point that we can start a draft.”

CA sports betting workgroup to focus on tribal priorities

Siva said the workgroup will begin with only tribal leaders to determine the overall priorities of the initiative. This corresponds with Siva’s previous statements that any future California sports betting initiative must be led by tribes.

“Actual decisions on what this looks like are going to be driven by tribal leaders specifically,” Siva said. “There will always be opportunities for attorneys and consultants to come in and help us fine tune things, to point out what we missed, but the overall emphasis of priorities needs to come from tribal leaders.”

Siva added that any tribe wanting to participate is welcome to send delegates to the workgroup.

“We’re leaving it open for leaders of tribes who want to be included,” Siva said. “We’re not going to exclude or prioritize anyone. I’m hoping to get a mass collection of tribal leaders across the state to participate in the workgroup.”

Siva expects that the workgroup will start out large with tribes wanting to make their voice heard on the issue. But as the workgroup continues into the weeds of writing language, a leaner group will emerge.

Crafting CA tribal sports betting model a difficult process

California tribes have about a year to draft a sports betting initiative to file it in time to qualify for the 2026 ballot.

While that may seem like a lot of time, it has proven difficult to get all 110 tribes in the state on board with one model.

In the 2022 election cycle, tribes were split on three initiatives. Some supported the in-person only model Prop 26, several supported the operator-backed online sports betting initiative Prop 27, and more backed a tribal online sports betting initiative that didn’t qualify for the ballot.

“We don’t want to relive the 2022 election campaign, where we had division amongst tribes on multiple fronts,” Siva said. “It was a confusing election cycle.”

Operators who supported Prop 27, led by FanDuel, have said they will take a backseat and let tribes lead the development of the California sports betting model. But they hope to participate in the discussion.

California tribes look to continue unified approach in workgroup

In entering sports betting discussions, Siva hopes California tribes can build off the collective energy of the past 18 months. In the past two CA legislative sessions, tribes came together to support a cardroom moratorium bill and legislation that just passed providing them access to state courts to sue cardrooms.

“We had a lot of unity among tribes on big issues related to gaming,” Siva said. “We’re hoping to continue that momentum with this workgroup as we look to the future on what the next sports betting initiative could look like.”

Part of the reason tribes stopped the workgroup last year was to wait for clarity on how tribes can do statewide online gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

With the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s compact upheld in the courts and the Department of Interior updating federal regulations on Indian gaming compacts, Siva said the time is now to move forward on developing a sports betting plan.

“It seems like now we have enough resolution on those items to begin our work internally,” Siva said. “To get mass approval from all tribes, we’re going to need a model that guarantees revenue share and benefits for all federally recognized tribes, protects sovereignty and promotes exclusivity.”