California group could not muster enough support for sports betting

The move to legalise sports betting in California has failed to attain the critical velocity, as the state is unlikely to put the legalisation of sports betting on the 2020 ballot.

“We never advanced to get a single signature,” Russell Lowery, a consultant for the group Californians for Sports Betting. “It started a conversation in California gaming on what is the right path forward, and those conversations will continue until they figure out the puzzle.”

The organisation had launched a campaign to collect 623k signatures, but it failed miserably. According to Lowery, such an approach is wrongful as he said: “The difference between June and today is everyone understands it’s not going to happen legislatively without some sort of pressure from an initiative. In the cardroom and sports betting industry, I think everyone now understands that if it’s going to happen, it’s going to be through an initiative.”

However, there is still hope that a new initiative could get the whole process completed as there’s enough time to do it from scratch, since rules require them to be circulated for 180 days and to be certified at least 131 days ahead of the election (June 25).