Two California state legislators plan to introduce a sports betting bill they hope to get through to voters by next year.
The amendment would legalize sports betting in casinos and card rooms across
the state.
Sen. Bill Dodd and Assemblyman Adam Green wrote the amendment. They have
until June 2020 to push the bill out of the senate and into the assembly, where it
would need a twothirds majority vote to reach the November ballot.
The amendment would legalize sports betting in casinos and card rooms across
the state.
Green has unsuccessfully attempted to pass state sports gambling legislation in
the past, where he was thwarted by the California Nations Indian Gaming
Association. The state’s tribes own 70 casinos and would have a strong say in
any potential legislation.
“We want to get an initiative on the ballot that the voters can understand, that's
easy to understand and perhaps in the process maybe bring all the gambling
institutions -- card rooms, horseracing, tribal casinos -- all together,” Dodd is
quoted by KTXL as saying..
Approximately $10bn in illegal sports bets are made each year in California,
according to the California Gaming Association.
California, home to 16 professional sports teams, would immediately become
one of the largest sports gambling markets in the world if it were to legalize
sports betting.
