SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Next year California voters will decide whether to allow sports betting in Indian casinos or horse racing tracks. The initiative will be placed on the November 2022 ballot. As of now, sports betting is legal in 26 states.
"This is an issue that reignites with voters and does not seem to be an issue that you get any kind of consorted effort to oppose, in terms of will of the voters," says gaming analyst Chris Grove.
However, grove says the initiative does not include online betting.
"I think that reflects the fact that sports betting as a whole is an incredibly contentious issue. Once you add online gambling of any kind to the mix, it becomes an issue that is unsolvable among the state's gambling stakeholders."
Legalized sports betting can bring in enormous amounts of money to the state, but it depends on how betting in California will be authorized.
"If you are talking about legal sports betting that primarily takes place in retail environments at tribal casinos, you are probably talking about a limited take for the state of California. If you are talking about a market that includes both retail and online sports betting, then the potential windfall for the state is measured in terms of hundreds of millions of dollars a year."
Of course, betting on any games would be for those who are 21-years of age or older.
"That follows the pattern that's been established in several other states that that have authorized sports betting."
Wagering would be prohibited on high school athletics and any sporting event in which California college teams participate.
