Digital Wager Wire highlights the most significant events affecting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industries each week throughout the year.
Tribes Hold Firm as California Sports Betting Targets 2028
Online sports betting in the Golden State has been a hot-button topic for years. California’s gaming tribes are not averse to mobile sports betting, but they want to ensure that it is done according to their wishes. Tribal casino gambling in the state represents approximately $13 billion per year, or more than one-quarter of all tribal gaming revenue in the nation, and any new gaming industry must be compatible with their blueprint.
James Siva, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), recently spoke at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States’ Summer Meeting in San Diego, stating, “We’re still very much looking at 2028 as a date that tribes are preparing to move forward with a tribally led initiative for an online sports betting market.”
Any new gambling initiative must be approved by the voters of California, and tribal leaders want to be confident that the majority of residents support such action. Their plan includes allocating revenues generated from online sports betting to the dozens of non-gaming tribes in the state, the same framework that currently exists with tribal land-based casinos in California.
“We’ve definitely looked at what’s transpired in other states,” Siva said. “We’ve really focused on equity amongst tribes … trying to make sure that no tribe gets left behind as we expand gaming.”
To what extent third-party operators like DraftKings and FanDuel will become involved if sports betting passes remains unclear. However, in 2022, those same sportsbooks attempted to circumvent the tribes in a losing public PR campaign to woo voters to approve mobile sports betting. The Tribes spent more than $400 million to convince voters to reject the proposal, roughly the same amount sportsbooks collectively spent to lobby in favor of it.
Since that time, the major mobile sportsbooks and their lobbies have desperately tried to curry favor with the tribes and have made incremental inroads toward that end. But ultimately, the tribes will dictate how they want to proceed and whether that includes using the third-party platforms’ technology to effectuate that end or not.
Fertitta Closing In on Caesars Acquisition
The iconic gaming conglomerate, Caesars Entertainment, is for sale, and it appears they have found a buyer. Tilman Fertitta of Fertitta Entertainment has submitted a $ 31-per-share bid to take over the company, which translates into a $17.6 billion acquisition, including the assumption of approximately $11.9 billion of Caesars’ outstanding debt.
The Carano family, which controls roughly 5% of Caesars through Recreational Enterprises Inc., has agreed to roll a portion of its equity into the combined company, adding further backing to the deal as it advances through the final stages of regulatory approval.
General Counsel and Executive Vice President Steven Scheinthal and Chief Financial Officer Richard Liem focused their remarks on the transaction’s regulatory path and said the companies plan to file their Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust notification on July 13, formally launching the federal antitrust review.
Once that process is complete, the proposed merger will also require approval from gaming regulators in every jurisdiction where Caesars operates. In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission must finish reviewing Caesars’ proxy materials before shareholders can vote on the transaction.
