Berkley Poll Shows CA Voters Could Reject Both Sports Betting Props on Nov. Ballot

• A Berkley Poll Indicates More CA Voters Oppose Props 26 and 27 Than Support Them
• Both Sides of the CA Sports Betting Issue Have Spent Millions on Advertising
• Less Than Five Weeks Remain Until California Voters Will Decide

Imagine asking your better half which of your two outfits they prefer, and the answer is, “Neither,” and that’s no doubt how the backers of California’s two sports betting initiatives, Propositions 26 and 27, feel about the results of the U. of CA at Berkley’s latest poll.

Over half – 53% – of those polled indicated they would not support Prop 27 with only about a fourth of them – 27% – saying they were in favor of it, and 42% of those same people said they were also against Prop 26 while only 31% of them told pollsters they would vote for it.

The U. of CA at Berkeley Institute for Governmental Studies (Berkeley IGS) was “created a century ago to provide research expertise to the Legislature regarding public issues of the day,” and that poll was of 7,000 likely CA voters regarding issues on the upcoming ballot.

The legalization of sports betting for CA residents is seemingly a no-brainer issue given that over thirty other states have already legalized, regulated, launched, and tax their own sports gambling markets as they are allowed to now that PASPA has been overturned.

But that Berkley poll suggest there is still work to do before voters are ready to move forward on approving such a market, and Berkeley IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler just said as much:

These results suggest that the sports wagering initiatives are foundering in the face of the opposition advertising campaigns. The lack of support among key demographic groups makes passage of each an uphill climb, at best.

This ongoing debate has cost far too much money to end up with no winner in the end.

Both Sides of the CA Sports Betting Issue Have Spent Millions on Advertising

Back in August, we did a piece about the money already invested in advertising this CA sports betting issue called California Has Spent Record $364M on Sports Betting Ballot Measure Advertising and in it we also broke down what each of these initiatives would mean for voters.

The goal of Proposition 26 is to restrict sports betting to the local casinos and four racetracks so that market remains in the hands of the state’s native tribes who currently run the legal gambling action in California, so voters who side with the existing market will perhaps favor this initiative.

Prop 27, on the other hand, would legalize online sports betting which would automatically include outside operators who would be running those mobile sportsbooks, an option that pro sports leagues like the MLB favor since it would mean big profits for those teams.

Those in favor of Prop 27 have spent millions of dollars to get their side of the argument known to voters and meanwhile so have those favoring Prop 26 getting their word out, and both sides still have just over a month to get any last messaging out there.

Less Than Five Weeks Remain Until California Voters Will Decide

The Coalition for Safe Responsible Gaming reacted to the Berkley poll in a statement:

“We are grateful that voters appear to be rejecting the out-of-state gambling corporations and their $170 million campaign of deception. That said, Prop 27 is still on the ballot and still poses a significant threat to tribal self-reliance and all Californians.”

Voters will make their choice on Tuesday, November 8 and California will finally get to move forward towards legal sports betting – or not – s o keep checking back for all the latest news and updates on this ongoing story.