California eyes potential ban on online fantasy sports
California's top legal authority is moving forward in a push to rid the state of sweepstakes casino games.
Attorney General Rob Bonta will introduce an opinion that would make all online fantasy sports platforms illegal in California, KCRA-TV reported.
The Golden State is not the first U.S. state to propose legislation that would eliminate the support or promotion of online casinos that operate in a sweepstakes-like fashion.
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Louisiana and New York have presented proposals on the topic, while Connecticut and Montana have enacted laws that ban online fantasy sports operations.
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The California Nations of Indian Gaming Association and Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nationals reportedly warned California lawmakers earlier this week about some fantasy sports operators potentially pushing to have their legal status changed in the state.
It remains unclear whether other types of online gaming will be affected as a result of these proposals and laws. In a legal sense, traditional fantasy sports vary from traditional online gaming. Online fantasy sports effectively require participants to play a game of skill, so courts have ruled it is legal.
Fantasy sports players typically select a team of real-life athletes from the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and other professional leagues and receive points based on the statistics of the athletes they picked.
According to KCRA-TV, the California Department of Justice's opinion will likely be made public before the Fourth of July holiday.
Daily fantasy sports and skill-based sports gaming platform companies Betr, PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy, Dabble and Splash Sports, make up the Coalition for Fantasy Sports. The group released a statement in response to the news of the anticipated legal opinion.
"We hope the attorney general's office will consider the views of sports fans across the state before making a decision," the coalition said in a statement to the station. "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."
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Fantasy sports in California date back to at least the early 2000s. It remains to be seen how the multibillion-dollar industry's bottom line could be affected if legislation banning online fantasy sports is enacted.