Sports Betting Clears Hurdle To November Ballot

Sacramento, CA– Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber announced that the proponents of a new sports gambling initiative were cleared to begin collecting petition signatures. The Attorney General is preparing the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General will forward it to the proponents and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures.

If the measure is allowed on the ballot and is passed it would legalize in-person sports wagering on tribal lands and online gambling statewide. It is anticipated that this would increase tax revenue to the state of California by tens of millions of dollars.

The proponents of the measure, Bo Mazzetti, Jesus Tarango, and Ken Ramirez, must collect signatures of 997,139 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2018 general election) in order for the measure to become eligible for the ballot.