00:00Finally, let's wrap up with a state that seems to be making some progress, although it always seems to be one step forward, two steps back. Sam, is the state of California who seems to be pulling back from even daily fantasy and sweepstakes and any kind of betting? Is it possible that they would legalize sports betting in the future?
00:17I think it's definitely possible. The more we talk about it, the more likely it is. You had this poll come out this week from Politico, which showed that 60% of voters in California said they're open to the idea of legalizing sports betting. That is way different than a couple years ago in 2022, when you actually had sports betting legalization on the ballot, voters could have legalized it themselves right there.
00:42And it only got 16% of the vote, which was just a woeful turnout for the commercial sports books, which poured over $170 million into that ballot initiative. It was one of the most expensive ballot campaigns in U.S. history, and it lost because the tribes really opposed it.
00:58But I think you are seeing the appetite for sports betting growing in California, especially now that, like you mentioned, other forms are being cracked down on daily fantasy sports that looks like sports betting, sweepstakes sports betting, prediction market sports betting also faces its own set of legal challenges as well.
01:17But I think the appetite is only going to grow and grow even more. The roadblock so far has been tribes getting on the same page with the commercial sports books.
01:25They're reportedly still in talks about a deal that could bring sports betting to the ballot next year in 2026. But even then, if it was agreed upon, which is, you know, it's a long ways away, it would have to be passed by the voters and then it would have to be codified in legislation.
01:41So we're talking about years away. Meanwhile, companies like FanDuel have moved into the prediction market space.
01:47Prediction markets are growing unchecked in California. So maybe that's putting the tribe's feet to the fire there and saying, you know, we kind of have to do something sooner rather than later.
01:55We don't want to be cut out of it. But yeah, definitely interesting that this poll came out and the majority of Californians are in favor of sports betting versus a couple of years ago when it was the complete opposite.
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