NIGA feature: California betting vote discussed at annual tradeshow

So far, the only measure officially on the ballot is a tribal one.

This year’s Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention is appropriately located in Anaheim. In November 2021, voters will go to the polls in the Golden State to determine the fate of mobile sports betting in what is most likely nation’s largest market. An educational panel at the conference explored the issue.

At the moment, there are four measures that could possibly be left to California: a qualified tribal measure (which will serve land-based operators and has collected the requisite 1 million signatures), a tribal online measure (which is still collecting signatures), a commercial online measure (still collecting, but likely to surpass the requisite baseline), and a measure supported by the state’s card clubs (which is unlikely to get the signatures).

The panel was led by Victor Rocha – Conference Chairman for the National Indian Gaming Association, Editor of Pechanga.net and a member of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians – who gave a background on the issue.

The tribal perspective represented on the lectern was pushing for tribal exclusivity on the issue of gaming in California and maintained that it should be tied to land-based operators.

A new measure pushed by a segment of tribal operators – one that embraces mobile sports unconnected to land-based casinos – was condemned as a force sowing disunity among the tribes. This disunity, it was argued by panelist Cody Martinez of the Sycuan Casino Resort, raises the risk of confusing the issue in the minds of voters.

Martinez went on to emphasize that “Gaming should ensure the economic health of the tribes and all the hard work that has gone into Indian gaming.” 

The third panelist, James Siva of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the Chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, noted the risk of getting commercial operators involved in the state’s gaming business. (The commercial measure is being pushed by FanDuel and DraftKings.)

Their bottom line, he said, was not in the interest of tribal communities but, rather, to the shareholders they represent.

Siva also pointed out that mobile sports betting was just a beginning. “The real golden goose is in iCasino which, to them, will inevitably follow the betting initiatives.”

So far, polls show the vote to be in the favor of the tribal qualified measure represented onstage; the others don’t even officially have the requisite signatures.

“The tribes have exclusivity and they’re not going to give it up,” said Rocha.

Cameron Saunders

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