Citrin-POLITICO poll: half of California voters back sports betting at tribal casinos, 37% support online

California voters appear more open to legal sports betting, but only in a limited form. A Citrin-POLITICO poll found that half of registered voters in the state would accept regulated sports wagering if it stayed within tribal casinos and the sportsbooks physically located there.

Support for online betting is weaker. According to the poll, 37% of respondents said they would vote in favor of internet sports wagering if it were put on the ballot. That suggests the idea is not completely foreign to residents, although most remain opposed to legalizing iGaming and online sportsbooks.

The result matters for the state's tribes, which dominate California's gaming business. Tribal operators have so far taken a cautious view of attempts to legalize sports betting and opposed Propositions 26 and 27, both of which voters rejected previously. The tribes also want to make sure that any legalization framework does not cost them revenue, and they insist on a significant stake in any future arrangement.

A land-based-only model carries a clear commercial drawback. In states where both retail and online sports betting are available, 95% of the traffic goes through interactive apps, so a market restricted to casino sportsbooks would leave most of the potential activity untouched. The source describes online betting as by far the favorite channel among bettors.

The shift in public sentiment suggests the issue may be difficult for California to avoid much longer, and tentative public approval for tribal retail betting could encourage the tribes to push ahead with a new proposal. It remains unclear whether private operators such as DraftKings and FanDuel would get any role in a California market. They may object to a model in which the tribes keep exclusivity and the companies cannot operate locally if sports betting is legalized.