Sports bettors react to California gambling propositions failing

Betting on sports is legal in over half of the United States of America. California, the country’s most populated state with more pro sports teams than any other, had two propositions on the ballot in Tuesday’s election that would have made sports betting legal. Both Propositions 26 and 27 have failed.

The two propositions opposed each other in advertisements throughout the lead-in to the elections but both could have operated independently of each other.

Per California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office website, Proposition 26 “Allows In-Person Roulette, Dice Games, Sports Wagering on Tribal Lands. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.”

The same website says that Proposition 27 “Allows Online and Mobile Sports Wagering Outside Tribal Lands. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.”

Less than 20 minutes after California’s polls closed at 8 p.m. PT, Arash Markazi of The Sporting Tribune reported that both measures had failed.

The New York Times confirmed that in its tracking of the results. As of 9:30 p.m. PT on Tuesday night, Proposition 26 was losing 54%-46%, while Proposition 27 was even worse, trailing 66%-34%.

The attitude on Twitter was the exact opposite of what it was in the voting booth.

Why did both measures fail? It’s hard to say.

Both propositions ran heavy on the ads, which were often more about attacking the other than they were about touting their own virtues. That did frustrate people in some of Caifornia’s most populated areas.

And while ads are certainly common during the election, ad fatigue may be something Californians are more vulnerable to than people from other states. California is not a battleground state. In most statewide elections, there’s very little doubt about who will win. So, even in a year like this one, where the Governorship and both U.S. Senate seats were up for grabs, the ads were lighter than they’d be in other states.

So, people in other parts of the country may be more desensitized to the ads that dominate the media through election seasons than those in California are. These propositions were heavily disputed, especially by each other.

It’s certainly possible that Californians were just turned off by that.

Whatever it was, residents of the most populated state in the country will not be able to legally bet on sports any time soon within its borders. Looking at Tuesday’s results, a significant shift in the mindset of the voters seems necessary before that ever changes.

[Arash Markazi on Twitter]