DraftKings promised anything seven months ago. Think about this discussion between California tribal chiefs and members of the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) in an open forum:
Jeremy Elbaum, Chief Commercial Officer of DraftKings: “Our sole purpose in California is to engage in sports betting. We will either succeed or fail in our endeavour.
James Siva, chair of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association: “Are you going to introduce [prediction markets] into California if we are unable to get a consensus? I’ve already seen DraftKings futures, and I have little doubt that FanDuel will follow suit.
“No, that might fit somewhere else, but not here,” said Elbaum.
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However, in the past two weeks, rival FanDuel and DraftKings have declared that they will open prediction markets in California and other areas where online sports betting is still illegal. Reservations will be geofenced out, according to both. From a tribal standpoint, however, any trust that may have existed between the commercial gambling business and California’s Indian Country is probably gone.
“We didn’t fully comprehend.”
FanDuel and DraftKings have been openly attempting to patch things up with California’s tribes since they spent almost $250 million to thwart a 2022 commercial sports betting project in the state. DraftKings CEO Jason Robins and FanDuel President Christian Genetski expressed regret at the Indian Gaming Association convention in April, the same week Elbaum assured Siva that no prediction markets will be in California.
“Sports betting is not possible in California unless it is managed by the tribes. Robins told moderator Victor Rocha at the panel discussion “The Power of Partnerships: Aligning with Established Gaming Brands” that it is impossible. That’s what we’ve truly discovered. We didn’t really comprehend how different it was when we first conducted a ballot initiative in California. We simply believed that everything would be well if everyone was profitable. However, it was very different from the discussions we’ve had here.
However, DraftKings’ entry into prediction markets demonstrates their continued ignorance. Money is not the motivating element for tribes.
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