One of the most lucrative prizes in the American sports betting rush has always been the State of California. With its 39 million residents, California is the most populated state in the US, but any road to Golden State sports betting must pass through Indian Country, and that’s something that Big Sports Betting is finally acknowledging.
At last week’s annual Indian Gaming Tradeshow and Convention DraftKings CEO Jason Robins and FanDuel President Christian Genetski admitted that efforts to bring regulated sports betting to California without working with tribal gaming interests was simply not viable. During a session titled “The Power of Partnerships”, hosted by Conference Chair Victor Rocha, Robins and Genetski talked about working with tribes and why previous ballot initiatives have failed in California.
In comments reported on by Politico Robins laid out the facts of the matter saying, “I’m not going to sit here and say we don’t make mistakes — we’ve made many mistakes. But I think those who partner with us, and those like you who’ve gotten to know us, understand we really do care and we want to do it the right way … Having tribal relationships and partnerships is absolutely essential — there’s no other way to do it here.”
One option that operators are considering, lumping all 109 California Indian Tribes into a single entity and cutting a single deal, has met with a lukewarm reception from Indian gaming leaders. They replied to the idea with a statement saying, “Further discussions among tribal governments are expected to take place in the coming weeks and months. Let there be no false illusion: establishing an acceptable framework and governance model will take time.”
No matter how you look at it, regulated sports betting isn’t coming to California anytime soon and when it does, it will only be with the approval of Tribal gaming interests.