The power of partnership was in the air at the mid-year Indian Gaming Tradeshow and Convention in San Diego. Not only due to a panel by the same title, but present at that panel were FanDuel President Christian Genetski and DraftKings co-founder Jason Robins, who both spoke about the possibility of partnering with tribes to bring sports gambling to California.
Robins was blunt in his assessment on the path forward for legalization in California, stating, “there is not a chance for sports betting unless the tribes are running it, it can’t happen.”
So instead of competing against each other, which came to a costly and embarrassing end in 2022, tribes and books hope working together can open the largest state in the union to sports betting.
Lesson Learned From Failed Attempts
In 2022, books and tribes went head-to-head to open California to sports betting with competing constitutional amendments. The books had proposition 27 while the tribes had proposition 26.
Proposition 27 was a constitutional amendment supported by sportsbooks to bring online and mobile sports gambling to the whole of California. The proposition failed spectacularly, with the "No's" getting 82% of the vote.
The outcome for Proposition 26 wasn't much better. Supported by the tribes, Prop 26 would have allowed sports gambling, but only on tribal land. Again, this sports betting prop was voted down with 67% of Californians voting "No".
Both campaigns cost nearly $600 million and went up in smoke. So instead of working against each other, both sides have come to the table to partner on a solution they both want.
Per DraftKings' Christian Genetski: "We know that [legislation] needs to come from the tribes, and we have said we will be accessible. It starts from tribal ownership and sovereignty. We want to contribute what we can to creating a big pie that we can then share."
Examples From Another State
We've seen these types of partnerships work already. DraftKings has a partnership with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe in Connecticut that saw the relationship expand to include the Foxwoods El San Juan Casino in Puerto Rico in 2022.
That's not DraftKings' only partnership with a tribe. In 2020, they also teamed up with the Bay Mills Indian Community to bring mobile and online sports gambling, as well as in-person sports betting, to Michigan.
With this many partnerships already on the books in 2022, I'm confused why DraftKings and other sportsbooks tried to open up California without the tribes. I suppose greed is a hell of a drug.
Both partners are still hoping that 2028 can be their year they achieve their goal.
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