Is DraftKings Legal in California? Here’s What You Need to Know

DraftKings operates multiple gaming products, and in California, legality depends on which version you’re talking about. While DraftKings Sportsbook is not legal in the state due to the lack of voter-approved sports betting laws, Californian bettors still have access to other DraftKings platforms that fall outside traditional sportsbook regulations.

From Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) and Pick6 fantasy contests to DraftKings Predictions, which uses federally regulated event contract trading, the company maintains a legal presence in California through alternative formats. Below, we break down what’s legal, what’s not, and why — so you know exactly where DraftKings stands in the Golden State.

Is DraftKings Sportsbook Legal in California?

Current Status: Not Legal

Real-money online sports betting is not legal in California — which means DraftKings Sportsbook (and other regulated mobile sports betting apps and betting sites) cannot legally accept real-money wagers from California residents within the state. There is no official regulatory framework or authorized licensing process for mobile apps or retail sportsbooks yet, so DraftKings and its competitors remain unavailable in this market.

Voters rejected two key California sports betting ballot measures in November 2022:

• Proposition 26 — would have allowed in-person sports betting at tribal casinos and select horse racetracks, but not online.
• Proposition 27 — would have permitted online and mobile sports betting across the state.

Both measures failed by wide margins, leaving California without a voter-approved path to create a legal sports betting market.

Since then, advocates hoped a new initiative might qualify for the 2024 or 2026 ballot, but no successful statewide measure has moved forward. Without a voter-backed constitutional amendment or statute, online sportsbooks like DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, and bet365 remain illegal in the state.

Industry experts and legislative observers generally view 2026 as the earliest possible window for another sports betting ballot initiative — but consensus is increasingly leaning toward 2028 as a more realistic timeline, due to the complexity of negotiations between tribes, lawmakers, and commercial operators. Any meaningful change in the way of legalizing sports betting platforms like DraftKings will require broad support, clear market rules, and, ultimately, voter approval.

That means prospective bettors in California will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on a DraftKings promo code to take advantage of a potential welcome bonus bet offer.

Is DraftKings Pick6 Legal in California?

Current Status: Available

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DraftKings Pick6 is currently available and considered legal in California as a fantasy sports contest rather than a traditional sports betting option. Unlike real-money sportsbooks, Pick6 operates under fantasy gaming rules, allowing Californians to participate in cash-prize contests without technically having to “place bets.”

DraftKings Pick6 is a peer-to-peer fantasy game, meaning users compete against other players rather than place wagers against the operator (“the house”). Participants build a lineup — called a “Pick Set” — selecting multiple athletes and predicting whether they’ll exceed or fall short of statistical projections during real-world games throughout different sporting events and leagues like the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. Cash prizes are distributed based on relative performance among participants, and payouts come from the combined entry pool.

In California, fantasy sports contests like Pick6 have historically been treated as separate from traditional sports wagering, so long as users compete against other players and not against fixed odds set by the operator. This peer-to-peer structure is key to why Pick6 can operate in the state even though real-money sports betting remains illegal.

NOTE: There’s ongoing legal debate in California regarding the broader legality of fantasy sports — with a 2025 California Attorney General opinion asserting that some paid fantasy contests may fall under gambling definitions. However, Pick6 continues to be offered leveraging its peer-to-peer classification.

Is DraftKings Predictions Legal in California?

Current Status: Available

DraftKings Predictions is legal and available to users in California. Unlike DraftKings Sportsbook (which can’t legally offer real-money sports wagers in the state), the Predictions platform operates under a different regulatory model that allows it to function in jurisdictions where traditional sports betting isn’t yet authorized.

DraftKings Predictions is a CFTC-regulated event contracts platform. Instead of bets against a sportsbook, users trade contracts on the outcomes of real-world events (like whether a team wins a game or other event results). These event contracts are treated as financial derivatives under federal law and overseen by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) — not by state gaming regulators like those that govern sportsbooks.

Because DraftKings Predictions operates under federal CFTC oversight as a prediction market (similar to a financial trading product), it doesn’t need a state-issued sports betting license to operate in California and other states where sports wagering remains illegal (such as Georgia, Minnesota, and Texas). This regulatory distinction lets residents in those states participate in event contract trading without violating local sports betting prohibitions, though the legal model has drawn scrutiny and ongoing debate among regulators and state authorities.

Is DraftKings Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) Legal in California?

Current Status: Available

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) contests are actively available to California players and have operated in the state for many years, even though there is no specific state law that formally legalizes them. Many Californians can still sign up, enter contests, and receive payouts as usual.

In July 2025, the California Attorney General issued a non-binding legal opinion stating that paid daily fantasy sports — including DraftKings’ DFS contests — could be considered illegal under existing state gambling laws because entry fees and payouts resemble wagering on sporting events. However, that opinion does not change state law by itself. It’s advisory, not a statute or court ruling, and therefore has not legally forced DFS operators to shut down or restrict service.

Despite the Attorney General’s opinion, DraftKings continues to accept entries from California residents and to pay out prizes as it has reliably done for over a decade. No new law has been passed to ban DFS contests in the state, and major operators remain active while the legal situation continues to evolve.

The 2026 Legislative Landscape (AB 831)

Starting Jan. 1, 2026, California’s Assembly Bill 831 (AB 831) went into effect, fundamentally reshaping the online gaming environment in the state. The law specifically targets online gaming platforms that use dual-currency sweepstakes models — popularly known as “social sportsbooks” or sweepstakes casinos — which allowed players to purchase or earn two types of virtual credits (e.g. Gold Coins and Sweepstakes Coins), with the latter redeemable for cash prizes.

What AB 831 Bans

Under AB 831, it is illegal for any platform to offer online sweepstakes games that:

• Use a dual-currency system (including sweepstakes or redeemable credits), and
• Allow players to participate with direct or indirect consideration to win cash or cash-equivalent prizes.
  This includes sweepstakes versions of sports betting or casino games that simulate real-money wagering.

Platforms that meet these criteria are now prohibited from operating or offering such services to Californians. Operators and even supporting entities (like payment processors or affiliates) can face fines or penalties if they “knowingly and willfully” promote or facilitate these games.

In simple terms: if a service lets you play with one type of virtual credit for fun and another redeemable for cash, that dual-currency “sweepstakes” model is no longer allowed in California.

Why This Matters

Before AB 831, some “social sportsbooks” and gaming apps operated in a legal gray area: they didn’t look exactly like regulated sportsbooks because they didn’t take real money bets, but they used sweepstakes coins to effectively award cash — a loophole the new law now closes.

As a result, many operators have wound down or altered their services for California users, and dual-currency sweepstakes gaming with cash-prize redemption is no longer available in the state.

Why DraftKings Is Unaffected

DraftKings’ products available in California do not rely on the banned sweepstakes model.

• DraftKings Pick6 (DFS) and similar daily fantasy sports contests do not use dual-currency sweepstakes coins.
• Players draft real rosters and compete in contests based on athlete performance; they pay entry fees and win cash prizes through standard DFS contest structures, not through sweepstakes coin redemption.

Because DraftKings’ offerings don’t operate on the dual-currency sweepstakes model targeted by AB 831, they are unaffected by the ban and continue to be available under California’s current legal framework.

DraftKings California FAQs

Still have questions about DraftKings in California? Let’s see if we can help point you in the right direction.