California Proposition 26 was a 2022 ballot measure that would have legalized in-person sports betting at tribal casinos and the state’s four licensed horse racing tracks. Voters rejected it, with about 67% voting no. It appeared on the same November ballot as a competing online sports betting measure, Proposition 27, and both lost after a campaign fight that cost roughly $559 million.
What the Measure Would Have Done
Prop 26 was both a constitutional amendment and a state statute, backed by a coalition of more than 20 federally recognized tribal nations that operate casinos in California. It had three main pieces:
- Legalize in-person sports betting at tribal casinos and the four privately operated horse racing tracks.
- Authorize roulette and dice games such as craps at tribal casinos.
- Create a new legal tool for enforcing existing state gambling laws.1California Secretary of State. California Proposition 26 – Allows In-Person Roulette, Dice Games, Sports Wagering on Tribal Lands
Bettors would have had to be 21 or older and place wagers in person at an authorized location. No mobile or online betting was permitted. Bets on high school sports and on any game involving a California college team were barred.2Legislative Analyst’s Office. Proposition 26 – Allows In-Person Roulette, Dice Games, Sports Wagering on Tribal Lands
Tribal casinos would have needed to renegotiate their gaming compacts with the state before offering any of the new activities. Racetracks taking sports bets would have paid a 10% tax on sports wagering profits into a new California Sports Wagering Fund; tribal casinos, operating under sovereign compacts, were not subject to the same state tax.2Legislative Analyst’s Office. Proposition 26 – Allows In-Person Roulette, Dice Games, Sports Wagering on Tribal Lands
The Cardroom Lawsuit Provision
One of the most contested pieces of the measure had nothing to do with sports. Prop 26 would have let private citizens and businesses file lawsuits to enforce certain state gambling laws when the Attorney General’s office declined to act. The provision was widely understood as a weapon aimed at California’s cardroom casinos, which have long disputed with tribal casinos over the card games cardrooms are legally allowed to offer.1California Secretary of State. California Proposition 26 – Allows In-Person Roulette, Dice Games, Sports Wagering on Tribal Lands
Cardroom operators argued the provision was designed to bury them in lawsuits and eventually shut them down. In their official ballot argument, opponents claimed cardroom closures would cost 32,000 jobs and strip communities of $500 million in local tax revenue funding police, fire departments, and health care.3California Secretary of State. Proposition 26 Arguments and Rebuttals That turned cardrooms, which might otherwise have stayed neutral on expanded gambling, into well-funded opponents.
Why It Failed
Prop 26 finished with 33% support. Prop 27, the online sports betting measure backed by commercial operators like DraftKings and FanDuel, did worse at 17.7%.4Ballotpedia. California Proposition 26, Legalize Sports Betting on American Indian Lands Initiative (2022)5Ballotpedia. California Proposition 27, Legalize Sports Betting and Revenue for Homelessness Prevention Fund Initiative (2022) The two measures together generated roughly $559 million in campaign spending, the most expensive ballot measure fight in American history.6Los Angeles Times. 2022 California Propositions 26 and 27: Track the Fundraising
Several forces drove the loss. Research from the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that voters who saw more campaign ads were less likely to support either measure; the volume of negative advertising soured voters on sports betting generally. Two competing gambling measures on the same ballot, with different rules and different backers, left many voters unsure what they were voting for, and uncertain voters tend to vote no on initiatives.
The gambling industry also split against itself. The tribal coalition poured resources into killing Prop 27 rather than selling Prop 26. A leader from the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians acknowledged the focus was “purely on defeating Proposition 27” once it qualified. Cardroom operators spent heavily against Prop 26 over the lawsuit provision. With no unified “yes” coalition, voters mostly heard why each proposal was bad from the backers of the other.
A majority of Californians consistently poll in favor of legal sports betting as a concept. The specifics of who controls it, who profits, and who gets sued proved impossible to resolve on a single ballot.
What’s Legal in California Now
Because Prop 26 failed, nothing changed. In-person sports betting is not available at tribal casinos or racetracks. Online and mobile sports betting remains illegal in California. Roulette and dice games at tribal casinos remain prohibited under the state constitution.1California Secretary of State. California Proposition 26 – Allows In-Person Roulette, Dice Games, Sports Wagering on Tribal Lands
As of early 2025, discussions about a new sports betting measure continue, with one proposal under discussion that would route online betting through a single entity containing all 109 state-recognized tribes and could reach voters as early as 2026. The California Nations Indian Gaming Association has called any suggestion of a finalized agreement “simply false,” noting that each tribe would need to approve any framework before it moves forward.