Tribal Sports Betting

Let Native American tribes offer sports betting.

Background

In 2018, the Supreme Court legalized sports betting. 24 states and DC have followed suit, but California has not.

Prop 26 legalizes sports betting and other games on tribal lands, and also legalizes sports betting on private horse-racing tracks in four counties. It would levy a 10% tax on sports bets at horse-racing tracks; of this, 30% would fund specific programs in addiction, mental health, and enforcement, and the remaining 70% would go to the state general fund.

The Legislative Analyst Office estimates that Prop 26 will result in:

Increased state revenues, possibly reaching tens of millions of dollars annually. Some of these revenues would support increased state regulatory and enforcement costs that could reach the low tens of millions of dollars annually.

Decision

Ideally, the Legislature would have acted by now---laws offer more flexibility than ballot measures---but four years is long enough to hope for successful negotiations. California tribes deserve this economic opportunity, California sports enthusiasts deserve this freedom, and California residents deserve the programs this tax revenue would fund.