California
DraftKings CEO Confident of California Sports Betting Rollout despite tribal opposition
Neil is a gambling industry veteran with over 15 years experience as a content writer, editor and speaker at events. He has a Masters degree in English Literature and Philosophy and has combined this analytical inquisitiveness with a passion for sports betting and casino gaming. Neil started his career with Bettingpro.com and helped build not only that site but various others such as LiveTennis.com, LiveDarts.com and numerous other sports informational sites, including GG.co.uk and RacingTips.com He then made the transition to the North American market, working both in the UK and in New Jersey to launch various sports betting and casino sites, including AmericanBettingExperts and NewAmericanCasinos. Working with regulators, Neil has helped to review sports betting sites and also test the regulated betting apps in a professional capacity. He now works almost exclusively in the US market and is one of the main reviewers and fact checkers on SportsLens gambling content. He also speaks at various gambling conferences including ICE, iGB Live and SBC Americas and has contributed to GamblingInsider, EGR Magazine and a number of others in a consulting capacity.
All posts by Neil RoartyUpdated4 hours ago on April 25, 2024
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins told the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (“NCLGS”) summer meeting in Boston that he remains confident of legal California sports betting rollout despite a multimillion-dollar campaign by California tribes to defeat the ballot initiative.
The November 8 California ballot will feature Online sports betting ballot measure Proposition 27, as well as Proposition 26, a competing retail-only sports betting proposal by a coalition of California tribes.
Proposition 27 was headed by DraftKings with the support of competitors FanDuel, BetMGM, Barstool, WynBet, Bally’s and Fanatics Betting and Gaming Group. It seeks to allow partnerships between tribes and commercial operators to have statewide mobile sports betting throughout the most populous state in the United States of America.
Robins has placed heavy emphasis on the potential tax revenue to be generated from mobile sports betting being operated statewide. He commented:
“Our proposition authorizes state-wide mobile sports betting with 85 percent of the tax revenues going to homeless and mental health, which are very pressing issues in California today” before adding
“The remaining 15 percent of tax revenue will be split among California tribes who choose not to offer sports betting, a very deliberate intention of ours to make sure that if you could participate in the industry, great, but if not, you wouldn’t get left behind; you could still benefit”.
Proposition 27 has been formally voted against by the California Democratic Party, who agreed to ‘remain neutral’ on Proposition 26, the initiative to allow tribal retail betting only across the State. James Rowe, the Democratic Assemblyman has not offered public support to either initiative yet.
Analysts believe that if sports betting is legalized in Caifornia, it could open a Total Accessible Market of as much as US30bn in bets upon rollout. There’s little doubt the potential tax receipts could be monumental, with California housing approximately 40m Americans – the most of any state.
The next step is the November 8 California ballot which will ultimately decide the immediate future of sports betting in the state. The legal fallout will undoubtedly rumble on for months afterwards too.
