Legalized sports betting would net California hundreds of millions in revenue, study says

Proponents of a constitutional amendment to legalize sports wagering in California say that doing so could net the state hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenue within months.

The firm Eilers and Krejcik Gaming released a report on Tuesday that found that a constitutional amendment to allow sports wagering would generate $282 million for the state within six months of passage, and $502 million in state taxes annually once the market matures.

The report was released the same day that the California Senate Governmental Organization Committee voted to pass the constitutional amendment on to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The amendment would allow tribal casinos and horse racing tracks to run sports betting, both at their facilities and online. It further would allow tribes to run craps and roulette, games they currently are prohibited from running.

The bill has the support of the NFL, NBA, MLB and the PGA Tour.

“Because of significant potential impact of widespread, legalized sports betting on the integrity of our games, we strongly support enacting enforceable policy changes through legislation to regulate betting in California,” the NFL said in a statement supporting the bill.

However, several tribal groups are opposed to the bill.

“Tribes oppose (the amendment) because they will not allow for another broken promise by the State of California, especially one that rewards card rooms that misled the state’s own regulators and have been fined millions for flouting anti-money laundering laws,” said tribal coalition spokesman Jacob Mejia. “(The amendment) condones unlawful games and it confirms that card rooms have been operating unlawful games for years, otherwise this measure would not need to legalize them.“

Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, a co-author of the amendment, argued that the Legislature has a duty to bring sports wagering out of the shadows. He acknowledged that the bill is a work in progress, and said he would work with tribal groups to reach a compromise, addressing their concerns before bringing it to the Senate floor.

This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Legalized sports betting would net California hundreds of millions in revenue, study says."