No Bet Yet On Sports Gambling In The Mother Lode
Sonora, CA – Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent take down of a quarter-century old federal sports betting ban that made the activity illegal in most states, Clarke Broadcasting queried the Mother Lode’s two tribally owned casinos for their reaction.
Just over a week ago as the decision was handed down Justice Samuel Alito summarized the 6-3 opinion, “The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make… Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own.”
Speaking today for Black Oak Casino Resort, General Manager Aaron Moss prefaces his comments by noting that even with California being one of the states considering the possibility of offering legalized sports gambling, getting to where it could actually be allowed will probably take a couple of years; it will additionally require all the involved stakeholders coming to agreement on just how it would work.
“We will be watching [the process] very closely, attending conferences and talking to the experts in the industry to see how this moves forward, “ Moss states. “Like every opportunity we have to look at it, evaluate it to see if it fits our model for gaming here at Black Oak Casino and Resort — and fits with the [Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians] tribal vision of what we offer.” He adds, “Like the rest of the world, we are curious as well to see what this looks like for California and will be…keeping our finger on the pulse…whichever direction California goes, we will be prepared for it.”
Calls to the Chicken Ranch Rancheria Tribal Office for a comment by Tribal Chairman Lloyd Mathiesen were not returned.
As the SCOTUS ruling came down, Central Valley Assemblymember Adam Gray reintroduced year-old plans to the legislature for moving forward in getting the state constitution amended. Requiring two-thirds Senate and Assembly support and the governor’s approval the amendment would then need to be ratified by a simple majority of the voters. While a ballot measure could ostensibly happen in time for the November ballot, the process, understandably complicated, requires reviewing other existing possibly conflicting laws ahead of creating the legal structure to regulate what might ostensibly become a multi-billion-dollar state industry.
