Californian Indian Tribes Give Hope for Sports Betting in the Future

Hopes of California getting into the sports betting business were dashed in November last year when both propositions offered to residents were voted down, however at the recent ICE Expo in London there was hope that it will eventually be legal within the Golden State.

James Siva, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) said at the event that even thou native Indian Tribes in the state are generally opposed to sports betting if sports betting operators such as FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM rethink their approach it could very well become reality.

He said, “Either they massively underestimated the size and reach of those tribes, both politically and financially, or they maybe had bad campaign consultants,” said Siva. “I think there’s still a path for tribes and the commercial operators to work together, but it’s going to be a path and relationship that’s decided by the tribes. This isn’t the first time we’ve had commercial entities want a seat at the table as equal to tribes.

Also at the event Pechanga Band of Indians Chairman Mark Macarro said it was “inevitable” that young Californians would want to bet on sports eventually.

“I think there’s a demographic proclivity to want to play online,” said Maccaro. “It doesn’t exist right now with the Baby Boomers and Gen X, but Millennials are different players and we’re not sure that slot machines will be what they want to play.”

That being said they also went on to say that 2023 will not see any movement after the devastating loss in the vote and 2024 with election will happen either but the following year is the biggest possibility of another vote legalising sports betting.