No California Sports Betting May Have Played a Part in Athletics Move

Peter Lewisby Peter Lewis
Updated: June 20, 2023
No California Sports Betting May Have Played a Part in Athletics Move

While people have been waiting for some sort of positive update on California sports betting, nothing good has arrived. It feels like each week, there’s something negative surrounding the project, as it’s now expected to be delayed for a couple of years. Not only that, but it also appears that the lack of effort from lawmakers and officials is starting to have an impact on teams too. With that said, no California sports betting may have played a part in Athletics move.

Per a report, this is surely something that the team owners for the Oakland Athletics were considering when deciding what to do with the club. In case you missed it, the plan, for now, is for the Athletics to officially leave Oakland soon and move to Las Vegas. Sin City has long been looking for a professional baseball team and a move from Oakland to Vegas for the A’s had been in the works for a while.

Now, it’s only a matter of time before the A’s organization as a whole packs its bags and makes the move to Nevada. This is something that has countless folks across the Bay Area quite depressed. Oakland has long been a tremendous source of entertainment for local fans, but you can’t argue with the fact that attendance for home games has been a major issue for the AL  West side in recent years.

Not only that, but the A’s are easily the worst team in baseball right now, with it looking like ownership has one foot out the door already. People are checking the MLB betting odds, but not to bet on the A’s – instead they’re betting quite heavily on their opponents. With Las Vegas being the sports betting capital of the world, it makes sense that they’d want a pro MLB team too. Unfortunately for California, this could be a major reason why they’re losing one of their local squads.

Illegal MLB betting continues to climb in California

With the drama surrounding the Athletics and no legal options being available for local citizens, illegal MLB betting continues to climb in California. This was a problem for the first full month of the new campaign, but things haven’t gotten much better. Despite the Athletics being a terrible squad, the same can’t be said for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Right now, LA holds impressive World Series betting odds.

A lot of baseball fans in California think that the Dodgers have what it takes to win the Fall Classic. However, since no legal betting options are on the table for them, they’re forced to place wagers through either an off-shore account or through an illegal bookie. In a recent article on MyTopSportsbooks, we discussed how authorities are doing everything they can to try and limit this kind of activity.

However, that’s much easier said than done. On top of the high interest in the Dodgers, fans also have plenty of focus on the LA Angels. The Angels have plenty of star talent on the roster, including Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is easily one of the best players in the game, as he’s a threat both pitching on the bump and also at the plate with the bat in his hands. He’s got unreal power.

With Ohtani, a lot of people are betting on him to win the AL MVP. Right now, his MLB betting odds are only going up with the fact that Aaron Judge has been injured. The New York Yankees slugger has been dealing with a toe injury that just won’t go away. With that said, people all over California are only going to keep betting on Ohtani to capture MVP honors as the season goes on this spring and summer.

California sports betting likely won’t arrive until 2025 or 2026

What makes matters even worse here is that California sports betting likely won’t arrive until 2025 or 2026. All hope feels like it’s lost for 2024 to be the year where something happens, as there are currently no new sports betting bills being put together for the state. A lot of people were hoping that this year things would have been finalized, but we can’t forget about what happened last fall.

As we’re sure you remember, two different sports betting propositions were present on the November ballot, but they both failed. So many people across the USA assumed that one of the betting measures would have passed via the voters, but the opposite proved to be the case. It really was disappointing to see, as it pushed back the sports betting plans.

That result in the November ballot indeed likely set back California sports betting by several years. The longer the state waits to get things done, the more money they’re leaving on the table to collect. Few people can argue that the sports betting revenue would be massive for the Golden State. However, until the green light is given, then people won’t be able to take advantage of sports betting on their favorite teams.

Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis Jr. comes from Mississippi where he and his family spend their days discussing college football, baseball and basketball. He's written sports journalism for years after studying journalism at a local university. Over time, Peter has cultivated extensive knowledge covering sports betting legislation across the country. He closely tracks the latest regulatory developments and provides key insights into their impacts. Peter also offers sharp MLB betting analysis, leveraging stats and trends to identify value on matchups.

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