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California’s gaming tribes are preparing to try again. After a bruising defeat at the ballot box four years ago, the state’s tribal nations are setting their sights on 2028 as the next opportunity to legalize sports betting.
James Siva, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), announced during the Indian Gaming Association’s annual conference last week. He confirmed that CNIGA intends to pursue a statewide ballot initiative covering both in-person and online sports betting.
“We are still trying to walk down the path; we are still trying to do that work,” Siva told reporters in a Legal Sports Report news article. “We’ve been doing a lot of that work in secret and in tribal meetings, talking about ideas and concepts. It’s been a lot of work to the point where the tribes are comfortable to let this information out.”
Lessons from the $400M ballot battle for 2022
Proposition 27, backed by commercial sportsbooks DraftKings and FanDuel, sought to legalize online sports betting statewide. The tribes took a different position, championing Proposition 26, which would have permitted in-person wagering exclusively at tribal casinos.
Together, both sides poured more than $400 million into their campaigns. Despite the record spending, voters rejected both measures. Proposition 27 garnered just 16% support, while Proposition 26 fell well short with only 30%. It was a significant setback for the tribes, though clearly not a permanent one.
The move from a 2026 to 2028 initiative
After the 2022 defeat, the tribes largely stepped back from public conversation on the issue. In January 2025, CNIGA confirmed it would not pursue a ballot initiative for 2026. By April of that year, reports surfaced of constructive talks between tribal governments and commercial sportsbook operators, raising hopes for a workable compromise.
Those hopes, however, ran into a new complication: major sportsbook operators began launching prediction markets in California. For the tribes, this was a serious concern. Tribal casinos hold exclusive rights to Class III gaming in the state, and the emergence of these platforms felt like a direct challenge to that authority.
Tribal governments contend that prediction markets—which allow wagering on real-world events—violate their exclusivity.
The Kalshi lawsuit: Defending tribal Class III gaming rights
California tribes have already moved to court over the issue. Several tribal nations filed a lawsuit against Kalshi, a prominent prediction market operator. In November 2025, a California court denied the tribes’ request for a temporary injunction against the company, though the broader legal fight continues through 2026.
Siva described the financial stakes as a matter of “significant risk.” He noted that, unlike tribal casinos, these prediction market operations create no jobs for California residents and contribute little to the local economy. CNIGA plans to commission a formal study to quantify the state revenue lost to the growing industry.
California’s crackdown on DFS and sweepstakes casinos
California’s broader gambling landscape has shifted recently. In 2025, Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a legal opinion concluding that daily fantasy sports (DFS) contests are illegal under state law. Shortly after, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation banning sweepstakes casinos, which took effect in October 2025.
These moves signal that California’s government is increasingly willing to rein in unregulated gambling—a stance that could strengthen the tribes’ argument for a regulated 2028 framework.
Public sentiment also appears to be shifting. A late-2024 survey by the Politico-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab found that 60% of registered California voters now support legalizing sports betting.
The road to 2028: Building a unified gaming coalition
Legalizing online sports betting in California requires a constitutional amendment, meaning the question must go before the state electorate.
Tribal leaders must now build a unified coalition and craft a measure that earns broad public confidence—something the fractured 2022 campaign failed to deliver. Whether commercial sportsbooks will join the tribes this time remains an open question, as the rise of prediction markets has added fresh tension to an already complicated relationship.
