Sports Betting Holdouts
Sports Betting Holdouts
29 states have legalized mobile sports betting. There is a commonality among a majority of the holdouts: Tribal gaming.
The Bulletin Board
NEWS: The yet-to-legalize mobile sports betting states have a common peculiarity: A heavy tribal gaming presence.
BEYOND the HEADLINE: Tribes are waiting to see if new online betting opportunities present themselves.
LOOSE ENDS: CGA President’s congressional bid; FTC cracks down on resort fees; MGC announces RG conference; VT mobile betting launch day; NC licensing update.
NEWS: Sports betting will be a hot topic in Georgia in 2024.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: The part of the California landscape that most people don’t understand.
STRAY THOUGHTS: The first step is the hardest.
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Sports Betting Runs Into Tribal Roadblocks
Last year (ok, last month), I documented the 21 states that have yet to legalize mobile sports betting.
A quick perusal of the list indicates the holdouts are the usual suspects: anti-online gambling locales. But when you zero in on the better candidates, you start to notice that tribal gaming states are heavily represented.
Twenty-two states possess tribal casinos (some have a much heavier tribal presence than others). Of the 21 states without mobile betting, 12 are tribal casino states.
In other words, 44% of states possess tribal casinos, and 57% of the states that haven’t legalized mobile betting are tribal gaming states.
California, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin are four locales dominated by tribal gaming that are keen on adding mobile betting but have run into roadblocks.
In a recent episode of the Word Series of Politics podcast, Brandt Iden, who spearheaded Michigan’s online gambling legislation, said the states that haven’t legalized sports betting are going to be tough nuts to track. They have obvious and intractable impediments.
Per Iden, the potential is in states expanding from retail to mobile. “We are coming to a crossroads in a lot of these states that have passed retail and are looking and saying, the money is in mobile.”
Of the tribal gaming states discussed, Iden and co-host Brendan Bussman expressed optimism for Mississippi and Minnesota expanding into mobile betting. Minnesota is a tribal-dominated state. Mississippi has a tribal gaming presence.
My thoughts on Mississippi can be found here. And here’s a (very) brief summary of the situation in each of the four tribal-dominant states mentioned above.
California
In California, the tribes are very wary of online betting. California tribes see it as a pathway to online casinos, particularly if outside operators are brought in to handle the operation of the mobile betting apps.
The failed ballot efforts in 2022 further strained the situation, and the current effort for the 2024 ballot is only making it worse. Make no mistake, mobile betting will only come to California when the tribes are on board, and it will be on their terms.
Minnesota
Minnesota has the most tribal-friendly gambling compacts in the country (0% tax), and the tribes don’t want to part with their exclusivity.
At issue is the efforts of some lawmakers to cut the state’s two commercial racetracks into the sports betting conversation, but Minnesota’s tribes are unwilling (at least thus far) to compromise, even on retail betting at the tracks.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma has a massive tribal gaming presence, and while everyone from the tribes to the governor to the legislature is interested in sports betting, bringing everyone into alignment has proven difficult, as Gov. Kevin Stitt’s proposals have sown division among the state’s many tribes.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin quietly legalized retail betting through a compact renegotiation with the state’s gaming tribes in 2021, but there has been little appetite to pass legislation enabling mobile betting.
The reason is simple: retail betting was possible through a compact renegotiation, but mobile betting would require legislative approval.
Beyond the Headline: Big Tribal Decisions Loom
Multiple moving pieces could radically alter the tribal landscape, which partly explains why tribes are content to approach mobile betting in a slow, measured manner.
Either of the following could provide tribes with a far better path forward.
The first is the ongoing cases in Florida and the US Supreme Court.
How these two cases are decided could provide tribes nationwide with the legal precedent to offer statewide mobile betting without becoming commercial partners with the state.
The second is the (seemingly in limbo) proposal to change BIA rules over land-in-trust and Class III gambling.
Two of the proposed changes would have a tremendous impact on online gambling across the country:
States that have legalized any form of Class III gambling would be required to negotiate with tribes over every Class III game. That requirement would extend to online gambling.
Tribes could offer mobile gambling throughout the state without a commercial license.
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Loose Ends: CGA Prez Runs for Congress; FTC & Resort Fees; MGC RG Conference; VT Launch; NC Partnership
California Gaming Association President and Club One Casino owner Kyle Kirkland has announced he will run for Kevin McCarthy’s California congressional seat. If he manages to win the hotly contested seat, Kirkland could bolster the pro-legal, regulated gambling voices in Congress. Of course, as CGA President, Kirkland has had a contentious relationship with California tribes.
The FTC has been charged with making President Joe Biden’s call to crack down on “junk fees” during his State of the Union address in February a reality. The FTC released a proposed rule in October that has received industry pushback. The rule would prohibit hidden fees, the most common in the gambling universe being “resort fees” charged by hotels, but also fees on things like concert tickets.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will host a responsible gaming conference on May 14 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Per State House News Service, the conference’s goal is “to bring together officials from the Northeast Council on Problem Gambling… and other industry stakeholders.” Per MGC Director of Research Mark Van De Linden, the goal is to “make sure the vast amount of research they conduct gets to the right people or organizations to be implemented as policy or practice.”
Vermont’s mobile sports betting launches today, with DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics going live in the Green Mountain State.
North Carolina’s mobile sports betting roster is coming into focus (with a target launch of March Madness) following the announcement that BetMGM has partnered with Charlotte Motor Speedway, paving the way for it to be among the first movers in the state.
North Carolina journalist Brian Murphy has been keeping track of the partnerships:
What’s in Store for Georgia Sports Betting in 2024?
Georgia lawmakers are planning to take another run at legalizing sports betting. You can find a quick recap of Georgia’s various 2023 efforts here.
2024 is the second year of the legislature’s two-year session, which means failed bills from 2023 can be resurrected.
Speaking to WTOC, Stae Rep. Ron Stephens said the state’s pro sports teams support betting, and “that’s where we’re going with sports betting, to allow our pro teams, the Falcons, the Hawks,” to offer sports betting.
Stephens’s proposal is one of many. Under his proposal, the Georgia Lottery would regulate the mobile sports betting industry, which, as some like attorney Daniel Wallach argue, eliminates the need for a constitutional amendment. “It’s just another lottery product,” Stephens told WTCO.
That said, the impediments that have thwarted legalization in the past remain, including the desire to legalize casino gambling in the Peach State - which would require a constitutional amendment.
As the Augusta Chronicle reports, “State Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, said he will introduce a constitutional amendment early in the session to legalize not only sports betting but casino gambling and pari-mutuel betting on horse racing.”
There is also SB 172, introduced by State Sen. Bill Cowsert, a sports betting-only bill that would require a constitutional amendment.
These competing efforts will continue to divide support, which sports betting supporters can ill afford in a state with a robust anti-gambling lobby.
“Sports gambling is one of the most dangerous forms of gambling because of its easy accessibility and its ability to create addiction,” Mike Griffin, who represents the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said in October. “Something as detrimental as sports gambling made legal will be like putting gasoline on a fire. It will make something that is already bad, just worse.”
Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
About the California sports betting push.
On a recent episode of the World Series of Politics podcast, Pechanga.net publisher Victor Rocha concisely explained the California landscape and why efforts to bypass or divide tribes are fruitless.
Rocha corroborated what I’ve been saying for quite some time: Failed efforts in California don’t just kick the can down the road; they kick the can much further down the road. And never lose sight of sports betting’s place in the California gambling hierarchy; it’s a nice little addition but not the main product.
“We can wait. We measure time in a different manner than the industry does,” Rocha said. “We don’t measure it in financial quarters.”
Talking of the big US commercial operators (which Rocha caveated with, just the stupid ones), “We understand what their motivation is, but they don’t understand what ours’ is.”
And, of course, Victor didn’t hold back on X.
Stray Thoughts
It’s a new year, and I’m sure many have made some resolutions.
Difficulty is often frontloaded whenever you try to learn/start something new. If you can get past the initial growing pains, things tend to get easier.
The most straightforward example is weightlifting. Your first workouts will produce the most muscle soreness, and that soreness will cause many to quit. Many more will quit because results take time and are gradual. For those who push through, it gets easier, even as you lift heavier and heavier weights, and those little gains add up.
But it’s also crucial to ease into things and approach them correctly. Focusing on form rather than moving the most weight early on will pay huge dividends when the weights get heavier.
I’ve been hammering this home to my martial arts students lately. Doing the little things right will pay off when you need to do more demanding things. Shortcuts early on will rarely pay off down the road.
In other words, be careful not to bite off more than you can chew in the early stage of your new journey, whether physical, mental, or business-related. Take it slow, and remember that a little progress is still progress.