FanDuel has secured the campaign for the hundred tribes that call the Golden State home.
Speaking at the Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention in Anaheim, California, FanDuel CEO Amy Howe assured the assembled representatives and media.
He said: “If legalized betting is going to be done in California, it will be done with and through the more than 100 tribes that exist in the state of California. For us it is essential to do it together and not against each other.”
FanDuel learns from past mistakes
The major gaming operator has taken part in a legislative initiative aimed at changing the fortunes of gambling in the state of California in 2022. This article of Proposition 27 would allow a designated tribe or “qualified gaming corporation with a of market access with a gaming tribe to operate online sports betting for individuals 21 years of age or older in the state but outside of Indian Territories,” according to the ballot proposal.
Proposition 27 failed and also clashed with the assembled tribes who felt insulted by the lack of conversation and respect for the role they play in legalized gambling in the state.
California Nations Indian Gaming Association President James Siva and Pechanga Development Corp. Public Affairs Director Jacob Mejia were on the panel Howe would speak on. Both have been outspoken supporters of consulting with tribal entities on any legislative push.
Howe didn’t win many friends when Prop 27 failed and said “we absolutely live to fight another day.” The statement irritated Meija at the time and he rightly responded that “If you fight with the tribes, you are losing.”
From those turbulent times began the healing process between Howe and Meija to form a future respect. Howe addressed the media accepting the failure of Prop 27, saying, “It’s a real privilege and an honor to be one of the first CEOs to be here after what was, we can joke about it, a spectacular failure.”
The assembled congress knows that legalizing gambling in the state will be a huge financial boon and Siva would firmly state that “the expansion of gambling will happen. It’s a question of when, not if. But when that happens, the tribes will remain in control. We will collaborate with companies, we will use the products. But the operators in California are the tribes, period. That’s all.”
It remains to be seen whether FanDuel has actually learned the lessons of the ill-fated Prop 27, but Meija would say in his closing comments that “it was nice to hear that they took stock of the outcome of the election and reflect on what happened. It seems like they learned some lessons. But, as has already been said, the proof is in the pudding.”
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