Chris Boline
• Sports betting propositions fail on the November ballot
• November 8th, 2022
• California
Now what? That’s what countless proponents of California Sports betting are asking themselves now that the November ballot has come and gone. In truly disappointing fashion, both California sports betting propositions failed to pass on the ballot earlier this week. This wasn’t a total shock, as recent reports had stated that both of the propositions weren’t receiving a ton of local support from citizens.
Now, though, this is only delaying legal sport betting from being launched in California. On one side of things, there was the proposition that was presented by the big-time sportsbooks. With this, there was some support across the state, as there was a plan to use revenue from sports betting to help out the issues with mental health and homelessness for people. It was a great idea on paper.
However, the Indian tribes presented their proposition as well, and they were taking several shots at the sportsbooks for their plan of action. In turn, the sportsbooks tried bringing down the tribes as well, which led to a bit of a disturbing battle to go on. This turned off a lot of potential voters, as they started to see the ugly side of things. This in turn led to people forgoing voting for either one.
With this, the official numbers came in and neither really had a chance. This has made a lot of people who were against sports betting in the Sunshine State very happy. However, there are countless folks who couldn’t be more upset about how things played out. There was so much promise that legal betting would come shortly after the November ballot in the state. Now, though, no one knows what the future has in store.
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
California sports betting being delayed is a major blow
It goes without saying, but California sports betting delayed is a major blow for so many fans out there. People had been checking the NFL bettings odds and the NBA betting odds for the last few months in anticipation of legal wagers being able to be made this winter. The excitement was through the roof, with a lot of folks already dreaming of placing different kinds of bets on multiple sports.
This time of the year, there’s no question that football is king. With people eyeing the Super Bowl betting odds too, it only added to the intrigue of betting arriving in California. Teams like the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49ers are always going to receive plenty of attention. Having said that, there are plenty of eyes in California on the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
Regardless of that, everything doesn’t matter since both props went down in the drain. This has to be infuriating for so many investors too, as more than $600 million was raised in total for the two sides in their efforts to win out on the duel for sports betting. Sports betting in California has major potential, as experts believe it could bring in billions of dollars down the road once it’s given the green light.
This is why so many different advertisements went up and why so many people bought in to the idea of things coming sooner than later. The November ballot was supposed to be historic for California in so many different ways. Now, though, the 2022 edition will be remembered in history for yet another failed attempt for sports betting to be launched. More than 30 states have legal sports betting, yet California has once again struck out with its efforts.
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
Results of the voting for both propositions was eye-opening
It goes without saying, but the results of the voting for both propositions was eye-opening for so many different betting analysts out there. Seriously, no one was expecting this. Starting with pProp 26, which was the measure that would allow for sports betting at tribal casinos, there were more than 3.7 million people who voted no for it, while only a little more than 1.5 million people voted yes. It failed 70.4 percent to 29.6 percent. Yeah, that’s brutal.
Meanwhile for Prop 27, which was organized by the sportsbooks, things went worse for them, as nearly 4.5 million people voted no, while only around 900,000 people voted yes. This means that the ballot failed with an 83.3 percent rate. Talk about brutal. An unreal amount of money was invested into this measure, yet the people of California made it more than clear that they wanted nothing to do with it. With both measures falling way short, it means California is really back to square one.
Now, it feels like all of the effort was for nothing and it’s back to square one for the legal sports betting efforts. New measures will need to be presented on a future ballot for legal sports betting, but this really feels like the state has taken about 100 steps in the wrong direction. California continues to lose out on massive revenue opportunities. Both of these propositions failing really is a huge bummer.
