Kasey Thompson either realized he drew a terrible hand and his bluff failed, or the odds were stacked against him, and he finally folded. Either way, the tribal support he believed would boost his sports betting initiative to get a place on the November ballot did not materialize.
In the back of his mind, Thompson always kept the option open to do what he told tribes he would do and that is to end the attempt to put a question on the ballot.
“This initiative was supposed to be for the tribes but is only causing division. That was never my intent. I see now the needed unity is not coming, and so I’m standing good to my word and not moving forward. I’m pulling it in full,” Thompson told PlayUSA.
From the beginning, Thompson said without tribal support he would not move forward. And he won’t. He had a small amount of support among the 110 federally recognized tribes in California. But that was overcome by the opposition.
“We tried everything until the very end, but it looked like there would be money from the three big tribes against it, making it impossible to pass in a public election,” Thompson said. “The only thing I would create from here is a civil war.”
Thompson also admitted he lied about the signature petitions. He told PlayUSA he signed with the top signature-gathering firm in California and would print 1.2 million petitions the day that title and summary came out.
Not so, he’s acknowledged.
Turns out, Thompson didn’t get a single signature. He didn’t set up a ballot measure committee or hire a signature gathering firm. The cost was too steep: $5 million.
“I had it set up, ready to go,” Thompson said. “I could have them on the street tomorrow. But it wasn’t looking good with tribes. They just don’t want it this year.”
California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) Chairman James Siva told PlayUSA:
“I think that was his biggest mistake, the timeline he left for tribes and his other partners. The manner in which they filed and the timeline they created wasn’t beneficial for anybody. Tribes are always willing to have conversations. But when you put our backs against the wall, we’re going to do what what’s needed to protect our exclusivity, which is an extension to our sovereignty, the most important thing to us.”
Reeve Collins and Thompson, co-founders of Pala Interactive, were certain the Pala Band of Mission Indians would lead the charge. In October, Pala Chairman Robert Smith intended to spell out his support with a press release. But he faced swift backlash at G2E from tribal leaders and pulled out.
Whether good or bad, Thompson and Collins filed the initiative later in October without tribal support. The two didn’t take an offensive stand. Indeed, one push focused on a constitutional amendment that insisted on tribal exclusivity when it comes to sports betting.
Still, the state’s largest tribes already pronounced any steps during 2024 dead in the water.
The issue proved unpopular with voters following the 2022 campaign, in which two competing resolutions went after each other and both resulted in bad failures.
Rural tribes saw the Thompson initiative as a chance to get a real revenue share from gaming. Thompson amended the thrust to provide the entire 25 percent tax collected to Revenue Sharing Trust Fund (RSTF) tribes. As a result, four RSTF tribes came on board.
“This was never about big tribes versus small tribes,” Siva said. “This was always about trying to maintain the unity we built. They came in and rattled the cage a little bit, but I don’t think it was ever leading to a civil war.”
Said Thompson: “There were a lot more tribes that expressed interest in the initiative, all kinds of stuff happening in private. But I needed public support. I’m really disappointed. I thought the bill was so good that everyone would like it.”
Thompson tried a Hail Mary promise to write a group of tribes a $25 million check and let them deal with the nuts and bolts of the initiative as a tribal proposal. Didn’t matter. No support.
In hindsight, the biggest error was not reaching out to the tribal community earlier and taking a backseat.
“I would do a lot of things differently,” Thompson told PlayUSA. “I would have involved the tribes way earlier and left it in their hands from the beginning.”
A ballot in 2024 is pretty unlikely, now. Siva said a tribal proposal is not likely before 2026, but more realistically in 2028. Siva went so far as to favor in-person betting at tribal casinos and then an incremental approach to the online world.
“I tried to do something tribal that I thought was great,” Thompson told PlayUSA. “They didn’t want it. I think the tribes have it figured out in the future and there’s no reason for me to be involved anymore. I’m not going to force myself on them, but I’ll offer as much advice as they want.”
Siva wouldn’t rule that out. Or working with major operators either.
“It’s all about tribes continuing to maintain their own destiny and doing the right thing at the right time,” he said.
