Daily fantasy sports are operational in California. California was actually one of the earliest states to propose the regulation of daily fantasy sports all the way back in 2015. Since sports betting and other gaming options like online poker and online casinos aren’t available in the Golden State, daily fantasy sports are one of the few options California gamblers have to indulge in online.
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History of Daily Fantasy Sports in California
The California legislature has considered a bill to legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports in previous years. However, a law has yet to be enacted. Despite no law being enacted, plenty of daily fantasy sports sites operate in California and appear to be doing so without any question. California is like a number of other states that don’t have any legal ruling on the books for daily fantasy sports but does not seem too concerned with its operations.
One bill that made some progress in California was AB-1437, known as the “Internet Fantasy Sports Game Protection Act”. The bill started back in 2015 and was introduced by Assembly Member Adam Gray. The bill progressed for about 18 months and then abruptly stopped in June of 2016 when it was amended in the Senate. AB-1437 has since died in committee. No other attempts to legalize daily fantasy sports in California have made any relevant progress since.
Daily Fantasy Sports Operators in California
Since there is no law to regulate daily fantasy sports in California, virtually any DFS supplier can operate in the state. Major players like FanDuel and DraftKings are available in the state and have big followings in California. Due to its population and numerous sports teams, California is one of the biggest states for daily fantasy sports.
Could Daily Fantasy Sports Lead the Way to More in California?
Tribal casinos in California hold a lot of power in the state. If they wanted to, they could find a way to make daily fantasy sports illegal in California. Since there is no type of gaming similar to daily fantasy sports that the casinos could offer, they don’t seem very interested in it either way. As for sports betting, that is where the casinos draw the line.
Daily fantasy sports are operating in California without issue. Sports betting and online casinos/poker are not legal in the state and have been highly contested by the state’s tribes. Tribes have voiced their opinions in not wanting any form of a gambling expansion in the state. Unless of course they are given the exclusive rights to the new forms of gambling. The state’s cardrooms and racetracks are of course against the idea of allowing for the tribes to have exclusive rights to new forms of legal gambling.
California appears to be a long ways away from the idea of legal sports betting or online options like poker or casino gaming. Daily fantasy sports appear to be the only form of online gambling that the tribes have zero interest in fighting against. While other states are using the legalization of daily fantasy sports as a stepping stone to further gambling expansions (such as poker or sports betting), in California, you can be sure that won’t be the case.
