California Republicans Are Against Sports Betting Initiatives

Peter LewisPeter Lewis | August 25, 2022
California Republicans Are Against Sports Betting Initiatives

For a while, it has looked like things have been positive when it comes to California sports betting legalization coming in the next few months. With two initiatives on the ballot come November, people will have the chance to vote and hopefully pass one of them. However, some shocking news has arrived this summer that could prevent things from going down as planned: California republicans are against sports betting initiatives. Holy smokes.

This update just dropped recently, and plenty of people can’t believe it. On the one side, you have one initiative that is being powered by all the big-time sportsbooks out there, with plans to use some of the funds to help the mental health and homelessness issues. On the other side of things, you have a project being presented by tribes that are hoping to take the reigns on things. The republicans don’t care much for either, per a report.

“Prop 27 breaks the promise made to California’s Native American tribes to grant them the sovereign right to operate gaming in California in order to improve the lives of their communities across the state,” Chairwoman of the California Republic Party Jessica Millan Patterson said in a statement via a press release. “We stand with California tribes and oppose Prop 27.”

There’s clearly a big-time divide here from the republicans, but they aren’t a fan of either proposition. With this, it means that they’ve already come out and said that they won’t be in favor of either when it comes time for the voting process to get underway. This is major news and one that’s pretty darn disappointing for plenty of people out there to see. What kind of an impact will it have on the voters?

California is still expected to pass sports betting in November

Despite this latest update coming in, the fact is that California is still expected to pass sports betting in November. While the republicans, and plenty of democrats, are against the two initiatives that will be up for a vote, they’ve already been approved for the ballot, and that’s not going to change. With things being passed, it will now be left to the voters to make up their minds on what they want.

As we’ve written about before on MyTopSportsbooks, the wide expectation is that sports betting will be coming by the end of the year in one form or the other. Just because the Republican Party is against the initiatives, this doesn’t mean that things are just going to fall by the wayside with the drop of a hat. Nope, that’s simply not going to be the case, and there’s still a ton of hope that things will go through.

The way things are set up now, it feels like a lock almost that sports betting will be legalized. This is something that people all over California have been pushing for, and it needs to come into play. Illegal betting has been an issue for far too long, and it’s a business that brings in millions of dollars for loads of criminals out there. This has to end, and it needs to happen in the near future.

Once November rolls around, people are hoping that there will be a quick turnaround for the legalization of sports betting. If that does happen, then we could see things come into play for the later stages of the NFL football season. People want to be able to check out the best NFL betting odds and be able to do so in a legal fashion. Will that end up being the case this winter? Things are moving in the right direction.

California is bracing for illegal sports bets during the football season

It goes without saying that California is bracing for illegal sports bets during the football season to be at an all-time high. This will happen after one of your teams comes out on top of the Super Bowl the year before. Indeed, the LA Rams won it all last year, and they’ve also got strong Super Bowl betting odds for this season as well. Despite losing future Hall of Famer Von Miller in free agency, the team was able to sign fellow star Bobby Wagner.

Despite things being up in the air on a potential return for Odell Beckham Jr., this team is still loaded on both sides of the ball, and they have what it takes to repeat as champs. Another team to keep an eye on is, of course, the LA Chargers, with Justin Herbert ready to try and have a big year for the team. The Chargers really do have the potential to win the AFC West this season.

With all of that said, sports betting in California will be through the roof, and it will, of course, be done in an illegal fashion leading up to the November voting process. Illegal bets are already being made with the preseason here, which is of course, a terrible thing to see.

Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis Jr. comes from Mississippi where he and his family spend their days discussing college football and basketball. He's written sports journalism for years after studying journalism at a local university.