Chris Boline
Things are really picking up when it comes to the excitement of legal sports betting arriving in California sooner than later. Now, things have reached a new level, as Californians are ready to vote on sports betting this fall for the November ballot. That’s right, after plenty of speculation, it looks like two different initiatives are set in stone to be in place for people to vote on. Which side will win?
First off, you have the Tribal Sports Wagering Act. According to CBS8 in San Diego, Calif., this would allow for sports betting to take place at the tribal casinos in the state, plus four major racetracks. One of those tracks is located in San Diego, so that would obviously provide plenty of booming business for that track, plus the surrounding shops in the area. It’d be big for the city as a whole.
On the other side of things, you have the California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Act, which is powered by some of the biggest sportsbooks in the world. This includes DraftKings, FanDuel, and several others. With this proposal, millions and millions of dollars would be used to help provide resources for the growing issues California is facing with mental health and homeless people.
This has been an incredibly intriguing idea, as people in California love the idea of sports betting being made legal, with the revenue brought in being used to help people suffering in the state. Should this pass, it would help out millions of people across California. People are in favor of this because of the ramifications it would have for those in need. We’ll see what happens here.
Game on | California voters to decide whether to legalize sports betting in November https://t.co/uIFZipu08O
— CBS 8 San Diego (@CBS8) May 6, 2022
California remains split on legalizing sports betting
With all of this said above, California remains split on legalizing sports betting in the near future. The problem that so many people have in this case is that they’re worried that people are going to become addicted to betting and let things get out of hand. As we mentioned above, one of the initiatives deals with helping homeless people and those who have mental health disorders.
With this, though, the concern for the Californian citizens is that people will then develop gambling addictions and then this will be another major issue that people are going to have to worry about. That’s surely understandable, but the fact of the matter here is that more than 30 states have legalized betting. They’re bringing in loads of money each month to help out their respective states.
With more than 60 percent of the United States moving forward with this, there’s simply no reason for a state as big as California not to give this a shot. So much sports betting is going down illegally, which makes things even worse around the year. With that money not being regulated, criminals are pocketing loads of cash. This is something that officials want to come to an end ASAP.
Come November, and the ballot will have at least two initiatives for gambling for people to vote on. While some people are ready to race to the front of the line to vote against it, others are ready to try and push this through. We’ll find out come November what direction things go, but things are looking promising for California sports betting. This feels like it’s been a long time coming.
Online sports betting in California: Voters to decide in November https://t.co/cBzYSvzhWy
— B*MMY DA CLOUT BANK (@LittleGameBimmy) May 10, 2022
Sports Betting arriving next winter would be massive
Looking ahead to things potentially being locked in, sports betting arriving next winter would be massive for so many different reasons. No. 1, it would coincide with the start of the NBA season, but not only that, it would be leading up to the heart of the NFL season too. Just because things are voted through in November, though, that doesn’t mean that the betting would get started right away.
There are still some moving pieces that would need to be finalized, but the betting should come sooner after things are voted in. The Californian government will need to then figure out plans for how to move forward and get everything in place. This will also depend on which initiative gets voted in by the people in the state. This one could really go either way.
If the one powered by DraftKings, FanDuel, and others is locked in, then people will check all those different sportsbooks and place wagers through multiple different parties. With all the pro teams, especially the NFL odds providing plenty of intrigues, it’d have people really being adventurous with bets through online mobile apps.
However, if the tribal casino pact goes through, then there’d be a totally different swing of things for the betting. Those casinos would need to figure out mobile compartments, but they’d for sure allow for sportsbooks to open at the tribal casinos in the state. This is all something to keep an eye on as the fall gets closer. We should find out soon, but November just got even more interesting for so many folks.
