California Tribes Won’t Pursue Legal Sports Betting Anytime Soon

The Californian Native-American tribes have been in the news a lot lately — as they should. They have a monopoly on the betting industry in California, which happens to be the most populous and preposterous country in the nation. So the position the tribes are in is envious of a lot of companies and entrepreneurs.

The latest headline from the tribes might be puzzling to those same envious companies and entrepreneurs. That’s because the tribes have kicked legal sports betting “down the road.” They’re now saying they won’t pursue it as soon as we thought. Keep reading and we’ll tell you what’s going on in the Golden State:

Tribes Will Wait Longer On Legal Betting Efforts

Many gambling leaders ascended upon Barcelona this month for the ICE conference. One of those panels was squarely focused on the state’s betting efforts — State of Gambling in California: Current Trends and Future Prospects. On the panel was the ever-influential James Silva, who heads the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA).

The takeaway? California sports betting won’t be pushed during the 2026 legislative session like originally believed.

“We have come too far to rush into this to potentially damage the foundation that we have built,” Siva said. “For 2026 we’re being very patient. The outlook is looking toward the future.”

California Tribes Panel

Tribes Are Eying 2028

Instead of 2026, they’re looking at 2028 to get legalized. This sentiment was shared by other panel members, not just Silva. Also talking was San Manuel Band of Mission Indians vice chairman Johnny Hernandez.

“It’s not going to happen in 2026,” Hernandez said. “The data is telling us that the time is not right. Definitely not 2026, we’re looking more like 2028, but it has to include all tribal communities in California.”

He did not specify what data that is, but we can put two and two together on our end: votes. It was only 2022 when betting was on the ballot not once, but two times in California. Let’s just say both ballot initiatives were disasters — that are likely still fresh in California voters’ minds.

If you remember, Prop 26 aimed to legalize sports betting at tribal-owned casinos but failed with 67 percent of voters rejecting it. Prop 27, which would have allowed commercial sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel to operate in California, fared even worse — crushed 82% to 18% in one of the state’s most lopsided ballot defeats. You can see why tribes want to wait because neither of those initiatives came remotely close to passing.

Plus, it wasn’t just a defeat at the ballot boxes, but in the bank account too. The tribes poured gobs of money into the failed campaign — not just to get approved themselves, but to deny Prop 27, which would’ve ended their monopoly. They’ll need to spend just as much, if not more, on ads to turn public opinion for 2028 as they plan. But there’s another reason why the tribes are likely waiting, as we’ll get to next.

Another Big Barrier To Tribes Betting Hopes

Changing voter’s minds is obstacle number one if legal sports betting is to become a thing in California. But there’s another factor that often goes overlooked: tribal relations themselves. You see, there’s not just one major tribe in California — like you see in Florida sports betting. The latter makes it easy for a monopoly to form, which is the case for Hard Rock.

In California? There’s over a hundred tribes. No single one can just sign a compact with the state and run the whole industry. No, no, it has to be a joint effort and that was another takeaway from the panel in Barcelona.

“It has to include all tribes, including non-gaming tribes. All tribes have to be in agreement. Gaming must go through the tribes,” said Hernandez.

You read that closely? Notice how he said non-gambling tribes? What most don’t know is there are dozens of California tribes that not only don’t offer betting, but they don’t even have basic services like hospital care or police enforcement. Those tribes aren’t cash-rich like their counterparts that own and operate casinos in the state. Still, they benefit from the gaming industry.

That’s because California’s tribal gaming industry has Revenue Sharing Trust Fund (RSTF), which distributes $1.1 million per year from gaming tribes to non-gaming tribes. This system was meant to ensure that tribes without casino locations still benefited from legal gambling. But if sports betting enters the equation, that figure needs to be redone too — and obviously marked up a lot higher.

Moreover, RSTF was designed for a world where physical casinos determined a tribe’s gaming revenue, but online betting, in theory, removes geographic limitations altogether. Non-gaming tribes could now have direct access to gaming profits rather than relying on handouts. As California moves toward legalization, internal tribal negotiations over wealth distribution will not be an easy solve.

When you lay out all these obstacles the tribes face, you can see why 2028 is the new target date. Plus, we didn’t even tell you the tribes have their hands full with a current lawsuit against card rooms, which is hogging up their resources. All this is to say California is further away from legal sports betting than most originally thought.

Eric Uribe

Eric is a man of many passions, but chief among them are sports, business, and creative expressions. He's combined these three to cover the world of betting at MyTopSportsbooks in the only way he can. Eric is a resident expert in the business of betting. That's why you'll see Eric report on legalization efforts, gambling revenues, innovation, and the move...

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