California DFS Legality Under Review By Attorney General

• The California Attorney General’s office will issue an opinion on the legality of Daily Fantasy Sports in CA because of a request put in by Senator Scott Wilk.
• Wilk’s request asks Karim Kentfield to review the legality of all DFS, including tournament and pick ‘em-style operators.
• If Daily Fantasy Sports in California are deemed illegal, the CA-based legal sports betting options will be reduced dramatically.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) in California are being investigated by the CA Attorney General’s office.

The request was submitted by California State Senator Scott Wilk on October 12, 2023, in hopes of a clear opinion from Deputy Attorney General Karim Kentfield on whether DFS is considered legal sports betting in the state.

The exact question from Wilk according to the Monthly Option Report on the Attorney General’s website can be found under opinion number 23-1001 and was:

“Does California law prohibit the offering and operation of daily fantasy sports betting platforms with players physically located within the State of California, regardless of whether the operators and associated technology are located within or outside of the State?”

Wilk’s request is different from other investigations in states with legal Daily Fantasy Sports because it encompasses all types of DFS, unlike others that are reviewing the legality of pick ‘em-style providers such as Prize Picks, Sleeper, and Underdog while avoiding tournament-style options like DraftKings and FanDuel.

How Would a Ban of Daily Fantasy Sports in California Affect Sports Betting?

Daily Fantasy Sports operators have worked tirelessly to convince legislators and players throughout the country that their offerings are different from sports betting because they believe it is a game of skill, not luck, unlike sports betting.

By successfully arguing this point in most parts of the US, DFS sites have been able to operate in states with legal sports betting and states without.

If Senator Wilk’s question results in an opinion that DFS is not legal in CA, then this would mean that the California sports betting sites market would shrink even more.

California is one of the many states in the US that have yet to regulate sports betting, so limiting the options for Californians even more will likely push even more players to popular sportsbooks like Bovada and BetOnline.

News tags: California | Daily Fantasy Sports | Karim Kentfield | Scott Wilk