.svg)
Two of the largest tribal gaming associations in California have dismissed a report that suggested that tribes and commercial operators had reached an agreement on a plan to legalize sports betting.
“Tribal leaders are offended that the Sports Betting Alliance invited a reporter into what was intended to be a private roundtable discussion among tribal leaders regarding this controversial issue,” the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) and the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations (TASIN) said in a joint statement.
“This breach of trust highlights why such discussions must be led by tribal governments and organizations, rather than operator-funded groups,” the statement read. “While the meeting was productive in some ways, the suggestion that an agreement had been reached between tribes and commercial operators is simply false.”
Both tribal associations confirmed that further discussions among tribal governments are expected to take place within the coming weeks and months.
“Let there be no false illusion: establishing an acceptable framework and governance model will take time. This is a complex matter that involves navigating federal, state and tribal laws, which requires thorough debate and careful resolution.”
The meeting between tribes and the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA), along with SBA’s six-member Tribal Advisory Council, took place earlier this week at the Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention in San Diego. The SBA represents DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM and Fanatics.
Casino Reports, an affiliate and news website, published a response to CNIGA’s and TASIN’s joint statement, saying its reporter was invited to the meeting by the SBA and had verbally confirmed that the meeting was on the record.
“When contacted afterward with objections over the report and requests for clarifications, the title and certain copy were modified in an effort to preserve the accuracy of the report while also preventing any of its contents from getting misconstrued. Casino Reports stands by the reporting,” wrote Brett Smiley, chief content officer at Casino Reports.
During the meeting, the SBA proposed a plan that would license at least four online sports-betting operators, all of which would guarantee minimum revenue shares for one tribal entity, which would be jointly owned by California’s 109 federally-recognized tribes.
The funds would be distributed to each tribe as part of the deal. The licensed operators would also pay a percentage of revenue to the state of California.
It is unclear if the plan presented to tribes at the meeting would be a commercial agreement to launch online wagering rather than having tribes amend their gaming compacts with the state to add sports betting.
The meeting was intended to share with tribes some background on current trends, the illegal market, and operator insights, then transition into open discussion to share ideas, ask questions, and continue learning together, according to the SBA’s Tribal Advisory Council.
“The goal was to get feedback from tribes on these potential frameworks and begin to identify issues (and) concerns. There is a lot of work to do to get this over the finish line and we know it’s going to take some time,” the advisory council said.
Jeff Grubbe, a member of the SBA’s Tribal Advisory Council and former chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, described Tuesday’s meeting as a “valuable opportunity” to convene a diverse group of California tribes for a constructive discussion on potential frameworks surrounding the future of sports betting.
“While these discussions were productive, we recognize that a final agreement remains a long way off,” Grubbe said in an email to Vixio GamblingCompliance. “Unfortunately, some misunderstandings among participants appear to have led to an inaccurate report being circulated online.”
The five other members of the advisory council include former and current officials with the Cahuilla Band, Blue Lake Rancheria, Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians, Tule River and Middletown Rancheria.
Grubbe said the process to legalize sports wagering in California will be driven by tribes and grounded in the protection of existing brick-and-mortar casino operations.
The tribal casino market in California generated $11.96bn in gross gaming revenue from 87 casinos in fiscal year 2023, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission.
“Simply put, no progress will be made … without the full support and leadership of tribal nations,” Grubbe added.
Those sentiments were also shared by Jesus Tarango, chairman of the Wilton Rancheria in Elk Grove, located some 15 miles north of Sacramento, who called gaming “a gift” while reminding the SBA that any expansion was “going to be done at our speed”.
“But let’s talk about it. Let’s get the issues on the table. How is it that we haven’t got this done yet?” Tarango said.
California tribes re-engaged in talks over sports betting in October at Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas after taking an election cycle off following the most expensive campaign in U.S. history that saw two initiatives fail at the ballot box in November 2022.
California tribes supported Proposition 26 to legalize retail sports betting in tribal casinos and at licensed racetracks, while members of the SBA proposed Proposition 27 as an alternative initiative to authorize mobile sports betting through market-access partnerships between tribes and commercial sportsbook operators.
A third ballot initiative supported by a narrower group of Indian tribes led by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians would have exclusively authorized tribes to operate mobile sports betting as a form of tribal gaming, but that measure did not make it to the ballot.
Fractions supporting and opposing Proposition 26 and Proposition 27 spent roughly $450m on their campaigns.
California voters rejected Prop 26 by a 66.94 percent to 33.06 percent margin, while 82.28 percent of voters said no to Prop 27 and just 17.7 percent voted in favor.
CNIGA chairman James Siva told G2E attendees that any ballot initiative to authorize sports wagering would likely not be pursued until the 2028 general election.
