California Tribal Casinos & Indian Gaming | 2020 News Archive

California Tribes gather enough signatures to put sports betting on 2022 ballot

December 24, 2020

California tribes through the Coalition to Authorize Sports Wagering have submitted 1.4 million signatures to the state to place a sports betting measure on the Nov. 8, 2022 ballot.

A total of 997,139 signatures must be verified to qualify. Counties will verify the signatures and report their totals by March 9, 2021.

The ballot measure would allow sports wagering at tribal casinos and racetracks and also expand casino gaming with roulette, craps and other dice games.

California Indian Casinos remain open during COVID-19 stay-at-home order

December 18, 2020

Californians are under a 3 week stay-at-home order to fight the surging number of COVID-19 cases that is consuming an alarming amount of hospital ICU capacity. The state has shut down all gatherings, indoor and outdoor restaurant dining, bars, indoor church services and other restrictions. However, California Indian casinos remain open.

The reason the tribal casinos can stay open is due to the sovereignty of Native American tribes whose casinos are built on reservation land. This exempts the casinos from state jurisdiction and this stay-at-home order.

Last March all the California Indian casinos shut down for the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The casino closures were soley voluntary and not government mandated.

When the shutdowns ended in June new safety measures and cleaning procedures were in place. Casinos reopened with temperature scanning, smoke-free rules, upgraded HVAC, more game spacing, limited food service, masks, social distancing, expanded cleaning crews and other enhanced measures.

San Manuel Casino issued a statement last week announcing it will continue to stay open. The statement said:

"From day one of the pandemic, we have made health and safety our top focus and we have persistently adhered to the most rigorous of safety standard. The San Manuel Business Committee and our executive leadership are actively monitoring the landscape and evaluating guidance from our retained medical experts and county public health officials."

California sports betting bill is dead till 2022

July 2, 2020

A bill to place sports betting on the November 2020 ballot died in the state senate last week when its sponsor, Sen. Bill Dodd, unexpectantly removed it from consideration citing the lack of time needed to negotiate the details with California tribes. The bill was nearly ready for debate and was on the fast track for passage.

"Given the deadlines for getting a measure on the November ballot and the impact of COVID-19 on the public's ability to weigh in, we were not able to get the bill across the finish line this year."

California State Senator Bill Dodd

California tribes oppose the provision in the bill to allow sports betting inside California cardrooms.

"While we appreciate that the state was trying to find additional revenues during this time, this bill was simply bad policy. It unjustly rewards the commercial, for-profit gaming industry for their practice of conducting Nevada-style games in flagrant violation of California law. This bill would have also threatened brick-and-mortar establishments by legalizing online gaming, which would reward out-of-state commercial business entities and raise regulatory challenges."

James Siva, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association

Senator Dodd promises to continue his efforts and and reintroduce the bill in 2022. Sports betting requires a constitutional amendment approved by voters and the next election will be in 2022.

California tribes reopened 12 casinos in May 2020

June 1, 2020

The first casino to reopen in California following the shutdowns for COVID-19 was Win-River Resort & Casino in Redding. The Redding Rancheria reopened Win-River Casino on May15th

That was followed the next week by the openings of two Sacrament-area casinos, Hard Rock Casino Sacramento and Rolling Hills Casino and Resort. Seven Southern California casinos reopened before the end of May.

The California casinos that reopened in May 2020 are listed here by date:

May 15 Win-River Casino
May 20 Sycuan Casino Resort
May 21 Hard Rock Casino Sacramento
May 21 Rolling Hills Casino and Resort
May 21 Jamul Casino
May 22 Morongo Casino Resort & Spa and Casino Morongo
May 22 Harrah's Resort Southern California
May 22 Valley View Casino & Hotel
May 24 Bear River Casino
May 27 Soboba Casino Resort
May 27 Cahuilla Casino Hotel
May 27 Barona Resort & Casino

Seven more casinos have announced their reopening dates for early June. More announcements are expected soon.

June 1 Pechanga Resort Casino
June 1 Chukchansi Gold Casino
June 8 Cache Creek Casino Resort
June 8 Red Hawk Casino
June 8 Thunder Valley Casino
June 8 Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort
June 10 Chumash Casino Resort