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Super Bowl LVI was held in Inglewood, California, in February 2022, although sports betting is illegal in California. Players, however, still bet on sports in California, experts say. It simply happens illegally and covertly, something legalization proponents are trying to change.
Legalized Sports Betting in California
On February 11, 2022, in the lead-up to a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and L.A. Rams, the president of North America Genius Sports, Steve Bornstein, during a panel, said that when you pull something out of the darkness… it becomes better. Gamifying the content is ultimately how you’ll connect with more fans.
Bornstein’s remarks come at a time when many organizations are attempting to pass ballot proposals that would allow sports betting in California.
Arizona made sports betting legal in 2021 and, according to the Arizona Department of Gaming, generated $1.2 billion in revenue within its first three months of operation. Industry analysts forecast that Super Bowl wagers in the state would exceed $100 million. Arizona isn’t the only state with a bustling iGaming market. There are also states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan, with the latter offering excellent Michigan online casino promos available to all new players.
Sports betting is already permitted in thirty states, and California is facing fierce competition to follow suit. Legal Sports Betting estimates that the sports betting market in the United States alone is worth $150 billion.
The goal of legalizing gambling in California, according to supporters of one recent sports betting campaign, is to improve the lives of those who are homeless throughout the state rather than just focus on winning.
California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health
Seven U.S. sportsbooks, including prominent operators like DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM, are supporting the California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support Act, an initiative that is still in the stage of gathering signatures to place on the 2022’s November ballot.
The proposal would impose a 10% tax on online gambling winnings, with the money going into a trust fund for online sports betting. According to the proposal submitted to the California Department of Justice office, 85% of that money would be used to promote mental health initiatives and assist local governments in addressing homelessness.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office of the state estimates that this would bring in millions of dollars a year for the trust fund alone. This might have a significant impact on homelessness in California, where, according to the most recent government figures, 161,548 individuals were sleeping on the streets as of January 2020.
Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of Coalition on Homelessness, which works to find long-term solutions to homelessness while defending the human rights of the people forced to live on the streets, said it’s a great way to legalize sports betting and try to get some tax base out of it for an extremely important issue.
The proposal required 997,139 signatures before the end of June in order to qualify for the ballot. Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, Jerry Dyer of Fresno, Libby Schaaf of Oakland, and Robert Garcia of Long Beach are the four mayors who have openly supported the effort.
