Is daily fantasy sports legal in the US?
Only where the fantasy status is live (or another registered regime). Twenty-three jurisdictions are not legal in our state table, including California. DFS is not a sportsbook licence.
Answer first
90s| Question people search | US reality | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Is daily fantasy sports legal? | Only in licensed/registered states | Fantasy status + regulator roster |
| Is DFS gambling? | States split — read the statute | Contest vs wager language |
| California? | not legal — AG Opinion 23-1001 | Penal Code § 337a; not a judgment |
| Same as sports betting? | No — different format status | Sports status vs fantasy status |
| Live count in our file? | 21 live · 7 legal, not launched · 23 no | Checked 2026-10-13 |
In short
Key takeaways
- Paid daily fantasy is legal only where a state allows it or licenses fantasy operators.
- States use different words: licensed, registered, allowed, or banned.
- Some states treat stat pick’em games as sports betting, even when fantasy is allowed.
- Check your own state’s status in the table below.
Progress
DFS is not the sportsbook status
- 1
Sports status
Fixed-odds / exchange sports wagering
- 2
Fantasy status
Paid contests under a fantasy statute or registration
- 3
Live
State licenses or registers operators
- 4
not legal
No licensed fantasy product in the state table
A sportsbook app in a live sports state does not answer “is DFS legal here.” Read the fantasy status.
Fantasy-status counts (Oct 13, 2026)
| Status | Count | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| live | 21 | Licensed or registered paid fantasy in our file |
| legal, not launched | 7 | Paper authorization; not treated as an open market |
| not legal | 23 | Includes CA, TX, FL, NV, WA, and others in the dump |
California’s status cites Attorney General Opinion 23-1001 (July 3, 2025): an Official Reports opinion, not a court judgment.
Sequence
How to check a DFS-legal claim
Step 01
Open the fantasy status for your state
If it is not legal, a national app is not a state fantasy licence.
Step 02
Find the registration or licence list
Some states use a gaming board; some use an AG registration. Match the operator there.
Step 03
Do not substitute a sportsbook roster
Live sports ≠ live fantasy. California sports and fantasy are both not legal in our file — for different citations.
States with licensed daily fantasy contests
| State | Status | Min age | Regulator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Live | — | Attorney General |
| Arizona | Live | — | Arizona Department of Gaming |
| Colorado | Live | — | Colorado Division of Gaming |
| Connecticut | Live | — | Department of Consumer Protection |
| Delaware | Live | 18 | Division of Gaming Enforcement |
| Indiana | Live | — | Indiana Gaming Commission |
| Iowa | Live | 21 | Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission |
| Louisiana | Live | — | Louisiana Gaming Control Board |
| Maine | Live | 18 | Gambling Control Unit |
| Maryland | Live | — | Maryland Lottery and Gaming |
| Michigan | Live | 18 | MGCB |
States with licensed daily fantasy contests (cont.)
| State | Status | Min age | Regulator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | Live | 21 | Mississippi Gaming Commission |
| Missouri | Live | — | Missouri Gaming Commission |
| New Hampshire | Live | 18 | Lottery Commission |
| New Jersey | Live | — | Division of Consumer Affairs |
| New York | Live | 18 | NYS Gaming Commission |
| Ohio | Live | 18 | Ohio Casino Control Commission |
| Pennsylvania | Live | 18 | PGCB |
| Tennessee | Live | — | Tennessee Sports Wagering Council |
| Vermont | Live | — | Department of Liquor and Lottery |
| Virginia | Live | 21 | Virginia Lottery |
Fantasy legal but not live, or contested
| State | Status | Min age | Regulator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | Legal, not launched | — | Department of Finance and Administration (tax) |
| Illinois | Legal, not launched | — | Illinois Gaming Board (letters) |
| Kansas | Legal, not launched | — | No registry |
| Kentucky | Legal, not launched | 18 | Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation |
| Massachusetts | Legal, not launched | 21 | Attorney General |
| Rhode Island | Legal, not launched | — | — |
| Wyoming | Legal, not launched | — | Wyoming Gaming Commission (sports) |
Floor rules
Words that keep DFS honest
Know before you sit
- Paid fantasy contest
- Entry fees and prizes under a fantasy statute or AG registration. Not automatically “skill so legal everywhere.”
- Sports wager
- A bet on a game or participant stored on the sports betting status. Different licence, different regulator page.
- Official Reports opinion
- A state AG opinion. California’s 23-1001 is official for our not legal flag, with the caveat that it is not a court judgment.
Seats
New York formats at a glance
Each ticket links the official page we checked on 2026-10-13.
Floor rules
Fantasy is not a sportsbook
Know before you sit
- Skill contest
- You draft a roster; points come from many player stats, not one game result.
- Pick’em
- Over/under on player stats. Several regulators treat it as sports betting and banned it.
- UIGEA carve-out
- The 2006 federal law excludes some fantasy contests from the definition of a bet; state law still applies.
Fantasy contest licences by state
| State | Active licences | Regulator | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri | 15 | Missouri Gaming Commission | 2026-10-13 |
| Tennessee | 15 | Tennessee Sports Wagering Council | 2026-10-13 |
| Arizona | 14 | Arizona Department of Gaming | 2026-10-13 |
| Virginia | 14 | Virginia Lottery | 2026-10-13 |
| Indiana | 13 | Indiana Gaming Commission | 2026-10-13 |
| Maryland | 8 | Maryland Lottery and Gaming | 2026-10-13 |
| New Jersey | 8 | Division of Consumer Affairs | 2026-10-13 |
| New York | 8 | NYS Gaming Commission | 2026-10-13 |
| Vermont | 7 | Department of Liquor and Lottery | 2026-10-13 |
| Delaware | 6 | Division of Gaming Enforcement | 2026-10-13 |
| Maine | 5 | Gambling Control Unit | 2026-10-13 |
| Pennsylvania | 5 | PGCB | 2026-10-13 |
| Ohio | 3 | Ohio Casino Control Commission | 2026-10-13 |
| Connecticut | 2 | Department of Consumer Protection | 2026-10-13 |
| Iowa | 2 | Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission | 2026-10-13 |
| Louisiana | 2 | Louisiana Gaming Control Board | 2026-10-13 |
Active licences copied from regulator lists. Not a ranking.
Keep reading
Related pages
- Is online sports betting legal in the US? →Is online sports betting legal in the US? Not all 50.
- Is sports betting legal in California? →Is sports betting legal in California? No statewide sportsbook. CGCC: sports betting is not regulated.
- Are prediction markets legal in the US? →Are prediction markets legal? Event contracts sit in CFTC and state-court fights. Not a 50-state sportsbook map.
- Is online poker legal in the US? →Is online poker legal in the US? com. Live in DE, MI, NJ, NV, PA.
- Is buying lottery tickets online legal in the US? →Is buying lottery tickets online legal? Only via that state’s lottery app or a regulated courier.
Go play
Where to play in Las Vegas
Tap a resort — each row opens that casino’s White Gambling page (hours, parking, loyalty, floor facts). Sorted by published table units when we have them — confirm on property.
Open a casino page
Real listings · not adsRanked lists
Open a shortlist that matches this guide
Same intent, inventory first — tap through for the places we already publish for Las Vegas.
After the 90 seconds
Questions before and after you play
A 90-second guide cannot cover every table moment. Tap a group, then a question — answers are short paragraphs, not one-liners.
01Status
Is daily fantasy sports legal?
Only where a state licenses or registers paid fantasy operators. Our fantasy state table (Oct 13, 2026) stores 21 live statuses, 7 legal, not launched, and 23 not legal. There is no federal DFS licence that overrides those statuses.
Is daily fantasy sports legal in California?
The fantasy status is not legal. California Attorney General Opinion 23-1001 (July 3, 2025) states that California law prohibits operating daily fantasy sports with players in California, citing Penal Code § 337a. The source note flags it as an Official Reports opinion, not a judgment. It is still not a licence.
02Gambling vs contests
Is daily fantasy sports gambling?
States do not use one word. Some treat paid fantasy as a licensed contest of skill; others prohibit it under betting statutes. This page follows the fantasy-format status in our file rather than a slogan. Read the statute cited on that status.
Is this page legal advice?
No. It restates fantasy-format status and the California AG opinion as stored in state-status.json. For a personal contest, read the opinion or statute, or ask qualified counsel.
03More questions people ask
Which states have legal daily fantasy sports?
As of our October 13, 2026 check, daily fantasy sports is live in 21 jurisdictions: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia. Every other state either has no law, has a law that has not launched yet, or limits play to a physical venue. Check the state regulator before you deposit, because launches and repeals happen mid-year.
How old do you have to be for daily fantasy sports?
It depends on the state, not on the app. Of the 21 states where daily fantasy sports is live in our October 13, 2026 check, 3 set 21 as the minimum age and 7 allow 18 or 19 (Delaware, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania). The operator must verify age and identity before the first real-money wager, so a younger player is refused at sign-up, not at cash-out.
Why is fantasy legal in states without sports betting?
Many states define fantasy contests as games of skill with their own licensing law, separate from wagering. A state can license fantasy and still ban sportsbooks, or the reverse. Where no fantasy law exists, the state attorney general opinion usually decides.
Who regulates daily fantasy sports in New York?
NYS Gaming Commission. The legal basis we recorded is: Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law art. 14, § 1402 Status on October 13, 2026: live, minimum age 18. Use the regulator site, not an app store listing, to confirm.
Sources
- California AG Opinion 23-1001 (July 3, 2025) · accessed Oct 13, 2026Official Reports opinion: DFS with CA players prohibited under Penal Code § 337a. Not a judgment.
- Colorado Division of Gaming · accessed Oct 13, 2026Example live fantasy jurisdiction (C.R.S. title 44, art. 30) in the state table.
- New York daily fantasy — official regulator source. Registration. Senate HTML returned 403. · accessed Oct 13, 2026New York: live for daily fantasy sports.
- Virginia daily fantasy — official regulator source. Permits after 1 July 2026 were not in the archive. The 30 June 2026 VDACS PD · accessed Oct 13, 2026Virginia: live for daily fantasy sports.
- Tennessee daily fantasy — official regulator source. Licence. · accessed Oct 13, 2026Tennessee: live for daily fantasy sports.
- Missouri daily fantasy — official regulator source · accessed Oct 13, 2026Missouri: live for daily fantasy sports.
- Arizona daily fantasy — official regulator source. Licence, with a small private exception. · accessed Oct 13, 2026Arizona: live for daily fantasy sports.
- Indiana daily fantasy — official regulator source. Licence. Code chapter was not saved. · accessed Oct 13, 2026Indiana: live for daily fantasy sports.