California, for example, is known for being a very liberal state, but it has yet to fully regulate online sports betting. The prowess is underway, and many expect the state to finally launch it in 2023, but even that comes from a lengthy and difficult battle. Meanwhile, there are also states where betting is already fully legalized and those where even the weakest efforts towards legalization have been crushed.
With that said, California is among the most advanced states where the legalization of sports betting is coming as we speak. There are two sports betting initiatives right now, known as Propositions 26 and 27, which will be put to the vote later this year, in November. Proposition 26 is known as the tribal initiative, and it will allow retail betting and brick-and-mortar tribal casinos, as well as horse racing tracks.
As for Proposition 27, this one is backed by a number of sportsbooks and a few tribes, and this one was specially created to bring forth online sports betting using servers on tribal lands. If either one of these passes, it will mark the official legalization of betting in the US state of California, enabling compact approvals, licensing, rules, regulations, and likely also lawsuits related to gambling.
But, as mentioned, the fight that resulted in these two proposals has been lengthy and difficult, taking place over several years.
7 Best California Sports Betting Sites (Offshore)
The first on our list is the Bovada sportsbook and casino, which emerged in 2011. For the first five years of operation, the platform held the Kahnawake Gambling Commission’s license, but in 2016, it decided to give up on it after the Commission went through a policy change that Bovada did not approve of. For the last six years, it has operated without a license, but that still did not affect its quality or performance.
Its sportsbook offers a variety of popular payment methods, and the ability to bet on all kinds of big sports franchises, such as the NBA, NFL, MLB, NCAA football, NCAA basketball, and NHL, among others. Apart from traditional currencies, it also accepts Bitcoin, and it features mobile availability. And, if bettors ever experience an issue or need any sort of help, they can contact customer support at any time via email, phone call, or live chat.
If you wish to learn more about Bovada, we recommend reading our Bovada review. Then, if you feel like this is the platform for you, feel free to proceed to the Bovada website.
The second on the list is BetUS — a well-known and highly-reputable online sports betting platform for the North American market, although the platform’s reputation has been flawless ever since its foundation in 1994. The platform, which is a casino in addition to being a sportsbook, is the holder of a Curacao Gaming Commission’s license, it is privately held, and it is highly secure and reliable.
BetUS features multiple payment levels, including Visa, Mastercard, and multiple cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and alike. In terms of sports betting, the platform offers numerous options, including football, soccer, baseball, basketball, hockey, cycling, golf, boxing, tennis, and more. Plus, players can also make in-play bets, meaning that they can bet on the games while they are happening. It is also rich with welcome bonuses, promotions, and other benefits that make it highly desirable among bettors.
For more information on BetUS, check out our in-depth review, which will tell you everything you need to know about the BetUS platform.
BetOnline is an online sportsbook that launched in 2004, and like our previous entries, it also offers a casino section with plenty of entertaining gaming titles. It is very user-friendly, starting with the fact that it offers a minimum deposit of $20, it features polite and capable customer support, and it is safe to use. It holds the Panama City license, and it features multiple secure payment methods, including Visa, Mastercard, Discover card, American Express, wire transfers, and even cryptocurrencies.
For those who make a minimum deposit of $55, the platform offers a generous welcome bonus, and those who use cryptocurrencies can also benefit from a number of promotions. In addition to regular, monotonous betting, there is also proposition betting that lets users bet on questions, such as which team will be the first to make the 3-point shot, and alike, just so make it more exciting.
If you are interested in betting on the BetOnline platform, we recommend reading our BetOnline review first.
Halfway down the list, we have Xbet, which is a platform known for a lot of things, from tight betting odds to excellent customer service and the ability to offer things for novices and professionals alike. Xbet offers a myriad of deposit options, fast payouts, multiple betting options, bonuses, and a lot more that makes it highly attractive to bettors all over California.
The benefits of using this platform keep popping up, but in terms of flaws, it only has 3 eSports games, at least for the time being. But, there are plenty of regular sports, like MLB; NHL, WNBA, golf, soccer, tennis, MMA, boxing, NASCAR, F1, and many more options for new and experienced bettors.
If Xbet seems like a platform you would enjoy, definitely read our in-depth review and learn everything you can about it before proceeding to register on the Xbet website.
In the fifth spot, we have BUSR, which stands for Bet US Racing. This is easily the best racebook for the US, and one of the leading sportsbooks, available across the country, with the only exceptions being New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. Luckily, California is not on the list.
There are numerous betting options on the platform, apart from horse races, such as MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MMA, NCAA, betting on live baseball, and more. The platform offers multiple bonuses, including a sign-up bonus, casino bonus, cash bonus, and referral bonus. It also has great customer service available around the clock available via phone call, live chat, or email.
The BUSR website has a lot to offer, and we have listed its features and offerings in our BUSR review. So, if you are thinking of using this platform for your online betting, definitely give it a read first.
Nearing the end of the list, we have MyBookie, which is among the most trusted platforms for online gambling. Like most sportsbooks, it also offers a casino section, but both offer top-notch betting opportunities, with the sportsbook also featuring live betting options. You can bet on a variety of major international sports like basketball, football, soccer, and alike, as well as cricket, rugby, and even politics and entertainment.
MyBookie features multiple bonuses, such as a 50% sign-up bonus, a 10% cash bonus, and a 150% Casino bonus. The minimum deposit for Visa and Mastercard is somewhat elevated, sitting at $45, but if you use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum Litecoin, or XRP, the minimum is only $20. Other than that, the platform also has 24/7 customer service available via email, live chat, and even phone calls, so you can always reach out if there is a need.
You can learn more about MyBookie from our review, and then decide if it is a website that you wish to use for your online sports betting.
The last on the list is SportsBetting.ag, which is actually a platform operated by BetOnline Group. The platform does not offer a great design, but don’t be deceived by that — it has been around for nearly two decades for a reason. It did experience financial issues in 2012, and BetOnline used this opportunity to take over. Ever since, the platform has been running smoothly, licensed by the Panama Gambling Control Board, and servicing US bettors with no issues.
It features multiple great betting opportunities, and a variety of payment methods, including crypto and fiat options alike, and it even has a casino section. In terms of available sports, there are all the popular ones, such as soccer, football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and even things like snooker, darts, and handball. A welcome bonus is also included, and so are numerous promotions for crypto users, and even a loyalty and VIP program.
For more details on SportsBetting.ag, we recommend our detailed review of the platform, which will tell you everything you need to know about the SportsBetting website.
California’s battle for legalizing online sports betting
2019
California’s recent success in building up a case for sports betting legalization started in 2017 when Assemblyman Adam Gray tried to get ahead of the overturn of PASPA by introducing the constitutional amendment. Unfortunately, tribal interests were not willing to even consider the matter for two years until 2019. At this point, many states have already managed to legalize sports betting, which is why Gray and Senator Bill Dodd started making concerted efforts to introduce two bills — SCA 6 and ACA 16.
The bills only included a ballot question to legalize sports betting, but their intention was clear — they were to start discussions with the industry stakeholders and have them come up with the details of how sports betting could be organized and legalized in the state. However, the tribes had a different idea, and they introduced their own ballot initiative that sought voter approval for the legalization of sports betting. They also wanted to limit it to tribal casinos and horse racing tracks, which led to Dodd’s response that this was not an inclusive enough measure.
2020
In January of 2020, Dodd and Gray finally got to hold an informational hearing on sports betting in California. The hearing was held in the Joint Governmental Organization Committee, and while it was expected that this would cause an uproar among the tribes and cardrooms, this did not happen. The opposition simply observed and said nothing.
However, they were more than prepared for the next hearing, which took place in May. At this point, the COVID-19 pandemic already spread across the world and it forced people across the globe into lockdown, which may have had a role to play in the course of sports betting in CA. The pandemic derailed the tribal ballot, as it made signature-gathering impossible due to the need for isolation.
Meanwhile, California was facing a $54 billion budget deficit, which led to an opening for legislators to renew their efforts. Dodd and Gray made a move to change their bills and fill them with implementation ideas. The amendments managed to authorize retail and online sports betting for tribal casinos and racetracks in California, but cardrooms were not granted sports betting rights. However, they were offered legal clarity on the games that they already had on offer.
When the hearing reached the Senate Governmental Organization Committee, tribal leaders strongly opposed this measure, saying that they did not accept the compromise. Despite this, SCA 6 managed to advance through the committee, receiving a 9-3 vote. Meanwhile, Dodd stated that there are plans for discussions with the tribes and that he is willing to implement changes that will address some of their concerns before the bill reaches the Senate floor.
2021
With the world slowly starting a long recovery from the pandemic thanks to vaccines, the signature verification was finally able to get started. However, the counties, which started it on their own, still needed an extension in order to complete it, finally managing to do it in May 2021. They managed to collect just over 1 million valid signatures and a margin of roughly 65,000 signers on the tribes’ petition, CA voters will get their first chance to vote on the future of sports betting in California in November 2022.
Several months after the tribes got access to the ballot, two new proposals emerged, seeking to enable online sports betting in California. However, they quickly diverged from the tribal initiative, as well as from one another. They also had their own signature campaigns in the second half of 2021, and after a November 2021 poll, it was revealed that voters did not look favorably on online sports betting.
2022
So far, 2022 has been filled with relevant events, starting with a lawsuit filed in March, which sought to invalidate the retail sports betting ballot proposal. The Supreme Court refused to even hear it, however, and so the proposal has been refiled at a lower court. Soon after that, three tribes took their lobbying against online sports betting to television, backed by a number of sportsbooks.
Cardrooms, on the other hand, started backing the campaign lobbying against the tribal retail sports betting proposal due to concerns about the tribes’ ability to privately sue cardrooms for offering specific types of games. They were joined by an entire group of veteran organizations, including the Marine Corps Veterans Association, National Veterans Foundation, and the Association of the United States Army groups.
The growing opposition group was then also joined by multiple elected officials, such as mayors, city council members, and also the California Teachers Association. Meanwhile, the tribal groups organized polls that once again confirmed that Californians are against the online betting initiative, which was still gathering signatures to qualify for the ballot scheduled for November. However, the online sports betting proposal managed to collect 1.6 million signatures and submit them by the deadline, so it will likely qualify to be discussed in November.
This was also confirmed by the California Secretary of State office in late June. Only a day later, labor and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta stood on the side of the tribal sports betting proposition, while the tribes themselves started running an add that targeted Jason Robins, the DraftKings CEO.
A new twist came on July 5th, when the mobile sports betting proposition got three tribal supporters. However, less than a week later, the California Democratic Party voted to oppose this proposal while remaining neutral when it comes to the retail tribal betting proposal. Finally, in August, the California-Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP announced its support for the tribal proposition, demanding that its brand gets removed from the ads against the tribal sports betting proposal. This was finally done only yesterday, August 8th.
Is sports betting legal in California?
As of right now, no, there are no legal options for sports betting in the state of California. There are the two mentioned initiatives that are opposing one another, both of which gained access to the November 2022 ballot, and Californians will have to vote for one of them come fall. Whichever proposal they opt to support will likely debut in 2023.
When will sports betting launch in California?
Sports betting will come to California in one shape or another, although this will not happen before 2023. In fact, it might not even be ready next year, either. There are currently two initiatives on the November 2022 ballot that will enable sports betting in one form of another, and it will be up to the voters to decide whether it will be online sports betting or retail tribal sports betting.
There is a third possibility also, which is that neither of the two measures will pass. If this happens, then sports betting will not arrive for a number of years to follow. However, given the competitiveness and the amount of attention that the rivalry of the two proposals managed to attract, it is likely that one or both of them will pass. Even if they both do pass, further conflicts might be expected, including lawsuits and similar challenges.
But, even if they both pass, and they don’t engage in lawsuits, there is still no guarantee that either of them will be implemented particularly quickly. 2023 is possible, although, even under the best circumstances, 2024 seems far more likely.
Will California get online sportsbooks?
While it is entirely possible that it will, this will likely not happen soon. The first step will be for the online betting proposal to pass the voting process in November, which will likely be followed by legal challenges, plus the licensing, rule-making, legislative requirements, and more.
California has quite an incredible population, which is why it has been targeted by gambling companies for a long time. According to the most recent data, it is estimated that the state has over 39 million residents, which, if true, means that it has 10 million more than Texas, which is the second most populated state in the country.
Furthermore, legalizing sports betting would allow the state to earn at least $500 million more at market maturity. However, this figure would be significantly lower if only retail sports betting gets legalized, and online sports betting is rejected.
Why is the situation so complicated in California?
The situation regarding sports betting in California is not looking great, as it is expected that conflict between the two groups pushing the bills will continue even if one or both pass. The tribes believe that the cardrooms’ operations are violating their rights to own exclusive gambling rights in the state, as is their understanding of the situation.
They do have this exclusivity when it comes to house-banked games, while the cardrooms found a loophole in offering player-banked games. Since this has always been the case, this conflict is actually much older and it has much deeper roots than what it might look like initially. Now, the tribes believe that any official acknowledgment of the cardrooms by the government will legitimize their existence, which makes the situation worse.
On top of that, there are also horse racing track owners, who are another major group in the state, and they do not want to allow to be left out of the estimated $200-$500 million influx in revenue which is expected to be seen. As for the state government, it has its own goal of generating tax revenue from the potential sports betting authorization, regardless of the form in which it arrives.
What are the legal sports betting options in California?
For the time being, there are no legal sportsbooks in California, apart from betting on horse racing. There are illegal offshore sports betting websites that will accept bets from Californian citizens, but they are not licensed and, therefore, not safe to use, as the government has no oversight in this situation, nor can it offer protection for the users.
Horse betting is legal, and California actually has one of the biggest horse racing industries in the country, with four tracks featuring live racing. These include Del Mar Racetrack, Santa Anita Park, Los Alamitos Race Course, and Golden Gate Fields.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of major sports teams that draw the attention of bettors, and the bettors are excited by the idea of being able to bet on them. The most popular options are expected to include the following sports:
1. NFL betting
CA has three NFL teams, including the Los Angeles Rams, the Los Angeles Chargers, and the San Francisco 49ers. All three are major teams with a long history in the NFL and different measures of success over the years. They have all reached Super Bowl at some point in their history, while two of them — the Rams and 49ers — have even managed to win it in the past.
2. NBA betting
Similar to the NFL situation, California is also home to three NBA teams, including the LA Lakers, the Golden State Warriors, and the LA Clippers. The Lakers and the Warriors are among the most successful teams in NBA history, with the Lakers potentially being the best NBA team in the country. While the fact the Clippers are also based in Los Angeles means that they will often be victims of oversight due to the Lakers, they too have their diehard fans who are loyal supporters.
3. MLB betting
Baseball is one of the biggest sports in America, and that situation extends to California, which has no less than 5 teams battling for dominance. Those include the LA Angels, the LA Dodgers, the Oakland Athletics, the San Diego Padres, and the SF Giants. Furthermore, MLB takes place when all other sports are taking a break, so MLB doesn’t even have a competitor when it comes to the attention of the crowd.
4. NHL betting
NHL also has three teams in California, including the LA Kings, San Jose Sharks, and Anaheim Ducks. The Kings never managed to win a Stanley Cup while Wayne Gretzky was playing, but they got two titles in three seasons in the last decade. The Sharks never got to the cup but they were close in ‘15-16, while the Ducks had their victory in ‘06-07, and they cherish this victory to date.
5. NCAA betting
Finally, it is worth remembering that NCAA betting is also very popular throughout the country, but no other state has as many teams as California does. Not only that, but there are also tons of fanbases throughout the state, with some of the most notable schools including UCLA, University of California (Berkley), Stanford University, San Diego State University, Cal State Fullerton, and the University of Southern Carolina.
However, while these are the biggest ones, there are many more besides the mentioned schools that have their own teams fighting for glory.
What about daily fantasy sports in California?
The situation is different for daily fantasy sports, as California is the biggest market for them in the country. It was estimated that around 120,000 participants are managing to make over $200 million in entry fees alone each year.
Assemblyman Adam Gray made multiple attempts to pass legislation that would regulate and legalize DFS, making California one of the first states to even propose regulation of DFS back in 2015. Unfortunately, each of the attempts failed, as different groups with an eye on betting rights in the country would not allow it. And, while DFS is not regulated to date, there are still multiple major DFS sites that operate in the state, such as Fantasy Draft, FanDuel, and DraftKings.
