California opens door to online sports betting
Revised bill tabled on the last day of the stateâs legislative session seeking to allow card rooms, tribes and race tracks to offer online sports betting
California has made the first tentative steps towards legalizing online sports betting within its borders following the introduction of a bill seeking to license and regulate the sector, a move that has the potential to transform the US egaming market. [private]
Last week Assemblyman Adam Gray tabled a revised bill, seen by eGR North America, under which the stateâs card rooms, tribal casinos and race tracks would be allowed to operate sportsbooks via telephone, computer or âother method of electronic wagering communicationâ.
If passed into law, the bill â AB 1441 â would enact the California Interactive Sports Wagering Consumer Protection Act, with eligible operators required to apply to the California Gambling Control Commission for an online sports betting license.
Operators would have to pay an unspecified annual license fee to the State Department of Public Health for deposit in the Gambling Addiction Program Fund, as well as taxes based on a to-be-decided percentage of total sportsbook win.
But the bill faces substantial challenges with the major blockage being the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which bans states from offering sports betting.
If PASPA was to be repealed or amended to permit sports betting in California, a state constitutional amendment would also have to pass for sports betting to become legal.
At present that appears unlikely, with the major sports leagues such as the NFL and the NBA using PASPA to defeat New Jerseyâs attempts to allow its casinos and racetracks to operate a sportsbook.
However, the rise of daily fantasy sports in the US has seen some states â including California and Nevada â question whether the sector should be regulated, with a number of industry insiders suggesting that could open the door to legal sports betting further down the road.