The Assembly deleted SB 1235’s Gambling Control Commission oversight language on Aug. 18 and replaced it with three tribal gaming compacts. The deleted section would have required the governor to notify two legislative committees whenever he removes a gambling commissioner. The new text ratifies compacts with the Picayune Rancheria, Fort Mojave and Pechanga, executed between … Read more
The commission has run without an acting or permanent chair since Jan. 13, when Sharon Avery’s term ended. It approved two gaming ordinance amendments nationwide in 2026, neither in California, down from 19 in 2025. California’s most recent approval went to the Soboba Band of Luiseno Mission Indians on Nov. 24, 2025. Compacts, land into … Read more
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a 25-year compact Aug. 4 raising the Yurok Tribe’s machine cap from 99 to 349. California drops its 10% to 25% cut of the tribe’s net win for a share of regulatory costs. At 349 devices the tribe stays a Limited-Gaming Tribe drawing $275,000 a quarter from the state fund. The … Read more
Wilton Rancheria asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs to take 90.57 acres in Elk Grove into federal trust. The nine parcels beside Sky River Casino would carry 150,000 square feet of office and 400,000 of commercial space. The environmental assessment proposes no gaming, unlike the 2017 acquisition that made the Sky River site gaming-eligible. Public … Read more
Tribal gaming revenue hit a record $46.2 billion in fiscal 2025, up 5.3%, or $2.3 billion, over the year before. At $12.6 billion, the Sacramento region spanning California and northern Nevada topped all eight of the NIGC’s regions. California’s region grew 4.1%, below the 5.3% national rate, even as it remained the nation’s largest tribal-gaming … Read more
Voters, judges, regulators: for years the state’s most powerful gaming interest has thrown everything at its only in-state competitors and come up empty. After the June 30 ruling, five doors remain open, and none of them is easy. SACRAMENTO — In most fights over gambling money, the side with $12 billion beats the side with … Read more
California’s blackjack ban could drain the budgets of small cities that live on cardroom taxes. Inside the cardroom cities at risk and the June 30 court date.
The Dry Creek Rancheria spent more than two decades running River Rock out of a tent. Now it is keeping the casino but renting the Caesars name, a different way to play California’s building boom. GEYSERVILLE, Calif. – For more than 20 years, one of Sonoma County’s casinos has run out of what amounts to … Read more
While Online Betting Stalls, California’s Tribes Are Pouring Billions Into Brick and Mortar The state won’t have legal sports betting before 2028, but its gaming tribes are not waiting. From Sonoma County to the Central Valley, a building boom is reshaping the market, and not without a fight. California is the strangest big gambling market … Read more
The Indian Gaming Association announced a national legal defense fund at its April convention in San Diego, organized against Kalshi, Polymarket, and the broader prediction-market industry. Tribal gaming generated nearly $44 billion in 2024.