Following the failure of the 2022 ballot in California, another sports betting initiative to legalize sports betting in the state has been recently suspended. The initiative spokesman Kasey Thompson reportedly considers the opposition from California gaming tribes the main reason for the ballot initiative not to be launched. As reported by PlayUSA, the Californian Nations Indian Gaming Association Chairman James Siva criticizes the initiative’s late referral to the tribes.
Lacking Support for the Initiative:
Kasey Thompson, spokesperson for the initiative, told the source: “This initiative was supposed to be for the tribes but is only causing division. That was never my intent. I see now the needed unity is not coming, and so I’m standing good to my word and not moving forward. I’m pulling it in full.” As reported, Kasey was expecting tribal support to move forward with the initiative to have the sports betting ballot organized in California still in 2024. He reportedly said that he could not proceed due to a rising opposition among the 110 federally recognized California tribes.
Thompson reportedly objects that he retrieved from the initiative as he could not start collecting signatures to meet the submission deadline for the ballot considerations by the competent state authorities. He told the source that he hired the best Californian firm to collect and print 1.2 million petitioner’s signatures as requested for a ballot, but failed to convince the tribes to join the initiative. “We tried everything until the very end, but it looks like there would be money from the three big tribes against it, making it impossible to pass in a public election,” he reportedly said. “The only thing I would create from here is a civil war.”
Gambling on Tribal Support:
But the source reports that Thompson didn’t have a single signature printed but rather set up the ballot measure committee and waited for the tribes to join and propel the campaign. As reported, he confirmed that he didn’t want to set up a firm to start collecting signatures as it would cost him $5 million. He reportedly said: “I had it set up, ready to go. I could have them on the street tomorrow. But it wasn’t looking good with tribes. They just don’t want it this year.” Instead, he opted to collect the tribal support first, and then potentially launch the company and the ballot campaign. This reportedly gave tribes little time to consider the proposal.
California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) Chairman James Siva told PlayUSA: “I think that was his biggest mistake, the timeline he left for tribes and his other partners. The manner in which they filed and the timeline they created wasn’t beneficial for anybody. Tribes are always willing to have conversations. But when you put our backs against the wall, we’re going to do what what’s needed to protect our exclusivity, which is an extension to our sovereignty, the most important thing to us.”
As the source reports, Thompson hoped to launch the campaign based on the unbinding discussions held with the Pala Band of Mission Indians, who refrained from issuing any press releases regarding a sports betting initiative in October 2023. Thompson and Reeve Collins, co-founders of Pala Interactive, proceeded and filed an initiative later that month without any tribal involvement, according to industry sources.
Offering Title Over Offshore Gaming Assets:
The same source reports that the initiative requested a constitutional amendment to secure the tribal exclusive right over sports betting but California’s biggest tribes kept their earlier stand point that they would not go for such initiative in 2024. As reported, Thompson and Collins also offered the tribes to use the initiative to prospectively acquire the title of offshore gaming assets in the state. Although the Pala Interactive may supposedly use this provision as a vehicle to funnel the money from illegal operators to the state, tribal leaders reportedly refused to have their good reputation used to clean illegal gaming apps.
Thompson then amended the initiative to funnel the entire 25 percent tax to the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund tribes. As reported by PlayUSA, these tribes supported the initiative and induced division among tribes. Finally, CNIGA resolved the issue with 37 out of 52 votes to oppose the proposal. CNIGA Chairman reportedly commented: “This was never about big tribes versus small tribes. This was always about trying to maintain the unity we built. They came in and rattled the cage a little bit, but I don’t think it was ever leading to a civil war.”
Future Prospects:
As a result, none of the tribes gave public support to the initiative. At the same time, Thompson said he made a mistake for not referring to tribes at an earlier stage of the process. He reportedly commented: “I would do a lot of things differently. I would have involved the tribes way earlier and left it in their hands from the beginning. I’m not going to force myself on them, but I’ll offer as much advice as they want. I would love to work with them in the future.”
Siva doesn’t deny such a possibility. He reportedly said that the tribes should be the ones to propose a ballot on sports betting in California, with such proposal seemingly feasible in either 2026 or 2028. “I think they probably have an uphill battle to repair that relationship, but I won’t say that is impossible to happen,” Siva reportedly said.
He added: ”Last election, the big corporate companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings were in that position. And this time, they came out in opposition of this initiative and supported the tribal position, so I think they are trying to repair those relationships from Prop 27. This one is a little different, but there’s always a chance we can come together. It’s all about tribes continuing to maintain their own destiny and doing the right thing at the right time.”
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