Daily fantasy sports betting is illegal in California, AG says
'Such games constitute wagering on sports' in violation of state laws dating back to 1909, Bonta said in a formal opinion issued by his office. While supporters have argued that fantasy sports gambling is a competition of skills, Bonta said, quoting a past judicial opinion, that it was 'simply a skill in betting.'
The law defines illegal betting as 'promises to give money or money's worth upon the determination of an uncertain or unascertained event in a particular way,' the attorney general wrote, and that definition applies to fantasy contests as well as real-life sporting events.
Assembly Member Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale (Los Angeles County), who had asked Bonta for his assessment, called the opinion 'very powerful' but said it would certainly be challenged in court by gambling advocates.
It would also be 'very surprising if there's not some legislation' to legalize at least some types of fantasy sports betting, Lackey said. 'Clearly there's a lot of money involved.' He said he has no personal opinion on the issue.
The opinion, if it withstands legal challenges, would clear the way for prosecutions, generally brought by local district attorneys.
Last month the Coalition for Fantasy Sports, which includes popular platforms like PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy, told KCRA-TV in Sacramento that 'Californians have been playing daily fantasy sports games for more than a decade, and it is shocking to think that the state would suddenly take them away.'
California is one of only 12 states that prohibit sports wagering. In 2022 the state's voters overwhelmingly rejected two ballot measures that would have legalized betting on a variety of sports at the 65 Native American tribal casinos in the state and at horse racetracks, and would have allowed online sports betting. Opposing sides spent a total of $460 million in their campaigns.
Bonta said the Legislature made sports gambling illegal in 1909 'out of concern that horse-race wagering had resulted in addiction and financial ruin.' In 1933, the voters approved a state constitutional amendment allowing horse-race betting at racetracks, but did not legalize other types of sports wagering.
The attorney general said gambling on fictitious sporting events is just as illegal as betting on actual contests under the 1909 law, which makes it a crime to participate in a 'contest … of skill, speed or power of endurance of person or animal, or between persons, animals or mechanical apparatus.'
In one variety of sports fantasy gambling, known as 'pick 'em,' competitors pay an entry fee and then predict whether an athlete or team will achieve certain results. That constitutes sports gambling, Bonta said, because the competitors are betting on the result of a 'contest' of an athlete's skill, speed or power of endurance.
He gave the same assessment to the other major category, 'draft-style' fantasy gambling, where participants assemble their own fictional teams and compete against one another.
Operators of draft-style contests contend they are not sports gambling because the players are engaged in their own competition, separate from events on the field. But 'as with 'pick 'em,'' Bonta said, 'each player's financial success depends on the outcome of the underlying sports games.'
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