In a highly anticipated opinion issued on Thursday, California AG Rob Bonta ruled that daily fantasy sports games are prohibited under state law.
According to a report by Ben Horney in Front Office Sports, Bonta stated that daily fantasy sports “involve betting on sports,” thus are illegal in California. “Like traditional sports wagering, daily fantasy sports games enable participants to win or lose money based on the outcome of sporting events played by third-party athletes,” the AG wrote in his opinion.
Some sports media figures involved in the fantasy and gaming space sounded the alarm earlier this week.
In spite of Thursday’s ruling, it seems that daily fantasy sports operators like Underdog and DraftKings intend to continue operating in the state. “We believe peer-to-peer fantasy sports contests… are legal in California, and we intend to continue offering them — as we have done without challenge or issue for over 13 years,” a DraftKings spokesperson told FOS.
“We look forward to meeting with the Attorney General’s office to talk through our next steps,” a FanDuel spokesperson told FOS.
The sports betting industry has been dealt a few tough blows this week. Thursday, Congress passed a sweeping domestic policy bill that will implement more aggressive taxation on gambling. The bill, if signed into law, will only allow bettors to deduct 90% of gambling losses, rather than 100%, on their taxable income.
After several years in which sports betting legalized rapidly through the United States, it seems the pendulum is shifting back, and lawmakers are cracking down on the industry.