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Unfortunately for one of the biggest states in the USA, nothing but bad news for California sports betting has been delivered over the past year. While there was plenty of hope that things would be in full swing right now following the November ballot, that wasn’t the case, as two different sports betting propositions were voted down by the citizens. Now, California sports betting is already looking doubtful for 2024.
According to a report, there was an early deadline earlier this week for California to get proposed initiatives to the Attorney General. With this, it would allow different bills to be able to move forward on the Nov. 5 ballot later this year. However, no sports betting bills were presented ahead of the deadline. As things stand, there is nothing serious in the works in California and that’s a major concern for sports fans.
While this first deadline isn’t the end-all one for bills to get in for lawmakers and officials to take a look at, it isn’t good that California is once again delaying getting things across the line. The earlier a proper sports betting bill can get presented, the better. However, as of right now, it doesn’t look like anything is going to be presented in the near future, which is only going to decrease the state’s chances of getting things done.
People all over California are sick and tired of having to wait for legal sports betting to arrive. With countless pro and college teams featuring incredible players, the betting potential for the state would be through the roof. Around the calendar year, millions of dollars worth of bets (even billions) would be placed in California. The feeling, however, is that legal wagers may not arrive until 2025. That’d be a huge failure for California as a whole.
Sports betting is legalized in over 30 states. California will not be one of those states for the foreseeable future after tonight. Both of California’s sports betting propositions will lose handily.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) November 9, 2022
Illegal NFL bets are about to be sky-high all over California
With nothing on the table for the future, it will only shine a light on the fact that illegal NFL bets are about to be sky-high all over California. This has been an issue for the state for years now and more of the same is going to be present in 2023. Everyone in California has a ton of love for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. With the Chargers, they just signed Justin Herbert to a monster extension.
As for the 49ers, this team holds strong NFL betting odds to potentially win the NFC this season and move on to the Super Bowl. The 49ers figure to be in a season-long battle with the Philadelphia Eagles for who will be the top team in the conference. The two organizations faced off in the NFC Championship Game last year, with the Eagles dominating things – they eventually lost to Patrick Mahomes with the title on the line.
Speaking of Patrick Mahomes, he and the Kansas City Chiefs hold the top Super Bowl betting odds entering the new season. This isn’t much of a surprise, as Mahomes is the reigning MVP and he’s all set for another huge year with the AFC powerhouse. Although plenty of people in California don’t like the Chiefs, they’ll surely be ready to bet plenty of money on them this year because of how good they are on both sides of the ball.
However, any bet that’s being posted in California is an illegal one. Illegal bookies and off-shore accounts will be working overtime once Week 1 of the regular season gets here. Different sports rings have been shut down, but authorities aren’t going to be able to keep track of every single one. This is going to keep on being an issue for the state until the laws change and legal sports betting is allowed. No one knows when that day will finally arrive.
It's Up! @Ticketmaster | #FTTB
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) May 12, 2023
California’s sports betting laws have frustrated fans across the board
With everything that has been going on, there’s no doubt that California sports betting laws have frustrated fans across the board with everything that has happened. When you look at the big picture, nearly 40 states in the USA have legalized sports betting and more will be on the way either later this year, or early next year.
The two biggest states in terms of sports teams and population are California and Texas. Yet, both of these massive states don’t have legal betting and it doesn’t make an ounce of sense. Florida is also in this status of limbo, but the good news for The Sunshine State is that the Appeals Court ruled in their favor and legal betting could arrive by the start of the NFL season.
However, we know that won’t be the case for California. As things stand, the best-case scenario for California will be that something changes and legal betting will be launched by late 2024. With the November ballot set for Nov. 5, people are hopeful that good news will arrive around then. Things won’t be easy and the perfect sports bill must be produced as soon as possible for the good people of California.
