'Catastrophic defeat' for gambling interests with California sports betting vote

The expansion of sports betting in the US appeared unstoppable but it came to a juddering halt last week in California in what analysts Regulus described as a "catastrophic defeat" for gambling interests.

California voters were presented with two separate proposals which, if one had been successful, would have opened up the US's biggest sports betting market, one with likely annual revenues of $3 billion (£2.55bn) according to analysts Eilers & Krejcik Gaming.

However, both were rejected – and by a considerable margin – following a campaign in which the opposing interests spent around $600 million.