Proposed changes to the California sports betting bill provide further restrictions on cardrooms and a multiyear phase-in of mobile wagering.

Is Mobile Sports Betting Available In California? Yes, but only through online sportsbooks housed overseas. Each of the top options available to CA residents have a mobile optimized site available as. Out of the COVID ashes was a CA sports betting bill to be on the November bill. It was an interesting twist in the legal plight to legalize sports betting and mobile sports betting in CA. The new proposed bill had.

Legal Sports Reportobtained an overview sheet of proposed amendments for SCA 6 that author Sen. Bill Dodd sent Tuesday to tribal leaders.

The amendments attempt to address concerns raised by tribes on California sports betting at two committee hearings earlier this month.

“They are changes we hope will make legalized sports betting become reality in California,” said Paul Payne, spokesman for Dodd.

• Currently, there is no form of legal sports betting in the state of California. Since the federal law banning sports betting (PASPA) came to an end in May 2018, there have been a number of sports betting bills.
• California is almost certainly going to restrict mobile sports betting to casinos already licensed in the state, whether that means racetracks, cardrooms or tribal casinos. None of these have the.
• Based upon the various attempted proposals in the state, California sports betting would feature: Licensed gaming facilities could take live bets on sports. Online/mobile wagering may be off-limits.

While drawing a lukewarm response from cardrooms, the changes weren’t enough to gain support from tribal representatives who spoke to LSR.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is addressing the bill in a Suspense Hearing on Thursday. The bill could advance to the Senate floor.

Cardrooms face restrictions in amended bill

The most significant proposed changes to SCA 6 involve the way the cardrooms offer table games.

The bill authorizes sports betting only for tribal casinos and horse racetracks. To garner support of cardrooms while leaving them out of CA sports betting, the bill clarified the legality of the way they offer games like blackjack using third-party proposition players.

Tribes have long opposed the way they believe cardrooms infringe on their exclusivity for house-banked games. Lawmakers proposed the following changes to address those concerns:

• Mandating rotation of the dealer in table games
• Mandating fees in table games
• Moratorium on new cardroom licenses
• Moratorium on new tables games, with limited growth for small cardrooms
• Limits on combining or relocating cardrooms
• Restrictions on cardroom advertisements

Phase-in of mobile sports wagering

Some tribal leaders expressed fears that mobile sports wagering could negatively affect what they’ve built with their brick-and-mortar casinos.

Mobile Sports Betting California Lottery

To address those concerns, the amendments roll mobile wagering out in three phases that would delay fully mobile CA sports betting until 2023:

• September 2021: Sports wagering goes live only at licensed brick-and-mortar casinos and tracks with mobile betting limited to within those properties.
• September 2022: Statewide mobile sports wagering goes live but registration is required in person at the casinos and tracks.
• September2023: The in-person restriction is lifted, allowing people to register remotely for mobile sports betting accounts.

It’s surely no coincidence that September typically marks the beginning of the NFL season.

Reactions from CA gaming industry stakeholders

The proposed changes haven’t moved the needle on the positions of the key industry stakeholders.

Tribes still strongly oppose the bill. Jacob Mejia, spokesman for a coalition of tribes attempting to put their own sports betting initiative on the ballot, called the amendments “meaningless window dressing.”

“The bill would still repeal tribal gaming rights and hand them to cardrooms that have been raided by the FBI for money laundering and have been involved with loan sharking and other criminal activities. This proposal is a farce. Californians would resoundingly reject this broken promise, and we are confident the legislature will see right through this brazen attempt.”

Tribal lobbyist David Quintana added:

“Unfortunately, these amendments were worked out without the opposition at the table. They still fall exceedingly short of anything close to being acceptable and so the tribes who were opposed are still opposed.”

Steven Maviglio, a political consultant for California cardrooms, indicated that the cardrooms aren’t pulling their support.

“All cardrooms advocated for was the status quo for their industry, and to allow the state to capture sorely needed revenue from the illegal sports betting market. While there is no cardroom in the state that likes any of these newly imposed restrictions, it’s something much of the industry is willing to consider in order to help the state solve this challenge.”

Other changes for California sports betting

The proposal cuts annual sportsbook licensing fees in half, from $1 million to $500,000.

California Sports Betting News

California Sports Betting Law

Horse racing gets a change as well. It limits racetracks to offering sports betting at five locations.

Mobile Sports Betting California

The amendment allows tribal governments to self-regulate alcohol beverage control if consistent with state laws.

Online Sports Betting California

Legalizing sports betting in California requires a constitutional amendment that must go in front of voters. The deadline for bills to pass through the legislature to make the November ballot is June 25.