Chris Boline
The poor results from California sports betting failing to get approved on the November ballot continues to haunt the state. Right now, people would love to be able to check all the different kinds of odds and make legal wagers, but that’s not the case. Now, things have dropped dramatically from an optimism standpoint and as you might have been able to guess, California sports betting advertising plummets as expected.
According to a report, the advertising numbers indeed have slashed tremendously, but again, this was expected to go down after both propositions were shot down. Leading up to the November ballot in California, millions and millions of dollars were spent from an advertising standpoint, trying to get the voters in California to try and hop on board for one of the bills to end up being legalized.
Now, though, countless folks in California are heartbroken over the lack of legal sports betting, which has led to advertisers to put a stop to their attempts at raising interest and awareness on sports betting. With no new bills on the docket or pre-filed, it means we could have to wait another while before either sports betting takes a positive turn, or if something goes down to get people interested in the entire project as well.
There’s plenty of concern as to whether or not California sports betting will arrive within the next couple of years. This latest setback has a lot of sports supporters worried, as they’re sick and tired of having to travel to outside states to make their bets. This shouldn’t be the case. Right now, people were eyeing being able to check the NFL betting odds and place wagers on the late regular-season action. That’s not possible in legal fashion, however.
BREAKING: Sports betting online continues to be illegal in California as proposition 27 fails, ABC News projects. pic.twitter.com/o9mX8oruhg
— ABC30 Fresno (@ABC30) November 9, 2022
Illegal sports bets have spiked in California over the last month
One of the biggest concerns has come true for lawmakers and officials in the Golden State, as illegal sports bets have spiked in California over the last month. You just knew this was going to happen once both props failed, as it left so many different sports fans out there fuming. Everyone assumed that at least one of the propositions was receive the needed votes to make history and approve sports betting.
Per a report, the illegal bets indeed have gone up, with people using offshore accounts to place online wagers, while illegal sportsbook rings are also being operated under the table. Both of these activities have been consistent in California for a while now, which has resulted in so much money being exchanged in illegal fashion. In recent years, we’ve seen several of these rings get shut down by the authorities.
With that said, there’s still a ton of sports betting rings still in operation. The fact of the matter here is that sports betting in California is very much alive and well in the state, but it’s being done behind closed doors. This is something that can’t continue to happen. This is incredibly frustrating for so many out there, as it just feels like a major step in the wrong direction for trying to get this problem to go away.
As long as sports betting isn’t legal, then all of this criminal activity is going to keep on going in California. It’s not just California that is facing this problem, as other places like Texas, Florida, Alabama and more are dealing with illegal wagers. For California and Texas in particular, they feature two massive sports markets, which of course is going to lead to people wanting to bet on their favorite teams. What sucks is they have to do it illegally right now.
just what we asked for pic.twitter.com/kugy1dbdEq
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) December 19, 2022
California tribes are frustrated with the sports betting uncertainty
With everything that’s going on, the California tribes are frustrated with the sports betting uncertainty, which you can’t blame them for. Loads of tribes were hoping to move forward with their sports betting plans, with locations even getting ready to launch for everyone in the state to enjoy. Now, everything is up in the air and no one has a clue of when sports betting will even be considered again.
With the tribes in particular, they’ve seen sports betting success elsewhere and they want to see the same thing in California. As we mentioned above, other states are also in the fight for legalizing betting, and one in particular to keep an eye on is Texas. There’s high hopes for Texas legal sports betting to get things across the board in 2023. If that were to happen, then not only would it put pressure on California, but it could also help their efforts too.
Texas and California sports betting feels like it’s hand in hand. If Texas gets the job done, which is feeling more and more promising, then we could see California get to work and dedicate more time to try and put the right kind of bills and propositions together. Just because things haven’t worked in the past, doesn’t mean that there’s no chance for something to change in the future. The tribes would love to see this get done soon enough.
