The most recent effort to bring sports betting to California was met with an overwhelming rebuke by the state’s Native American tribes, who believe this outside entity is trying to hijack sports gaming for their own personal gain.
Bringing sports betting to the largest state in the nation has been tried before and none of the measures have succeeded due to the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by the state’s tribes in advertising to oppose the measures.
But this latest salvo initiated by businessmen Kasey Thompson, Reeve Collins, and Ryan Tyler Walz got a late start to get their proposal in the 2024 legislative session with the group vowing to spend $25 million to get the 875,000 required signatures on the ballot.
Kasey Thompson stated they would not move forward “without majority tribal support.”
“This is now the best California sports betting initiative ever because of the way it benefits all tribes,” Thompson stated. “I think we’ve got a bill that works for every stakeholder, every out-of-state operator, every land-based casino, and a majority of the tribes right now.”
But the logistics of getting such an ambitious proposal on the ballot in 2024 was a daunting task by any standards, but doing so late in the year made it a near impossibility unless the full weight and support of the California tribes were behind it.
Nevertheless, Thompson has remained committed despite early, not-so-subtle signs that the tribes do not want an outsider at the vanguard of such a historic venture.
“People just think: ‘This is too good to be true,’” Thompson stated. “We knew we could make this happen and come up with a solution for the tribes.”
Despite an initial lukewarm reception by the Pala Band of Mission Indians, or because of it, Thompson believed he could win the support of the major gaming tribes in the state by taking all of their concerns regarding his initial proposal and amending it to assuage their concerns.
However, that is clearly not the case as the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) sent a letter to the proponents of the California sports betting measure earlier this month.
The communication left no doubt as to how they feel about Thompson or anyone else outside the tribal nations trying to move the needle on sports betting in California. CNIGA chairman James Siva described the Thompson’s entreaties as “disingenuous” in nature.
“The disingenuous nature of these initiatives should be a red flag to every tribal government as well as every voter in California,” Siva said in a statement. “The proponent of the measures are attempting to divide and conquer tribes by pushing an initiative that attempts to legitimize illicit off-shore operators and putting our governments at risk.”
“The opposition coming from Indian Country is loud and it is clear. Tribes will not be distracted by outside influences making empty promises. Indian Country will stand firm in protecting our sovereign rights and integrity. We call on the proponents to do the honorable thing and withdraw these flawed initiatives.”
And if that wasn’t clear enough, the letter went on to state the following:
“We are hereby notifying you of the strong opposition from more than half of California tribal nations to these offensive proposals that masquerade as tribal initiatives. Again, we expect you will keep your word and urge you to abandon these proposals without delay.”
“Your initiatives are a cynical and deceptive attempt to hijack — for your personal gain — the goodwill tribes have earned and maintained for decades with the people of California. … We will not allow imposters to exploit our good names. An aggressive campaign will be waged against these reckless initiatives — like in 2022 which resulted in an 82% NO vote — that harm potential legitimate efforts to authorize sports wagering responsibly in California.”