It Looks Like Sportsbooks Have Stopped Funding California Prop 27

In elections, the proverbial waving of the white flag usually comes when money stops flowing into a campaign’s coffers.

And it appears that time has come for California Prop 27.

Prop 27, which would legalize online sports betting in California via sportsbooks partnered with state tribes, has not received a financial contribution since Oct. 1. And even that was just a total of $95,749.47 from FanDuel and DraftKings.

With no donations for 24 days and counting, and no donations of more than $85,000 since Sept. 8, it’s no stretch of the imagination to think the private sports betting companies who poured more than $169.3 million into the Prop 27 campaign see the grim writing on the wall ahead of the Nov. 8 election.

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Even the most optimistic polling has Prop 27 failing next month. A recent poll from SurveyUSA had 37% of likely California voters say they support Prop 27, and 43% said they opposed it.

September polling by the Public Policy Institute of California showed 54% opposition to Prop 27. And more September polling from UC Berkeley had just 27% of its likely California voter respondents say they supported Prop 27.

Beyond stopping their financial contributions, the CEOs of DraftKings and FanDuel have both publicly indicated they’re turning their California sports betting focus to the 2024 ballot. They said as much at the Global Gaming Expo, or G2E, two weeks ago in Las Vegas.

“More than likely, this will pass in 2024,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said at the event.

Amy Howe, FanDuel’s CEO, agreed with Robins.

In all, Howe’s FanDuel has spent the most on Prop 27 at $35,009,850. DraftKings has spent the second-most at $34,336,084.64.

Then BetMGM, PENN Gaming, and Fanatics have each donated $25 million. Bally Bet and WynnBET have each contributed $12.5 million. None of these five sports betting companies, however, have made any donations since July. It’s been all DraftKings and FanDuel since then.

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Does Prop 26 Have a Chance?

Prop 26, which would legalize in-person sports betting at California Indian casinos and the state’s four licensed horse racetracks, is thought to have a slightly better chance of passing Nov. 8. But just slightly.

The SurveyUSA poll had 43% of likely California voters say they support Prop 26, while only 32% said they opposed it. Prop 26 would need one vote more than 50% to pass.