{"id":14359,"date":"2025-07-10T13:01:33","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T13:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?p=14359"},"modified":"2025-07-10T13:01:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T13:01:33","slug":"california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/","title":{"rendered":"California Tribes Push Back on DFS and Sweepstakes Operators"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/california.jpg\" alt=\"California\" title=\"California Tribes Push Back on DFS and Sweepstakes Operators\" width=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-130\" \/><strong>Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>California tribes praised a new AG opinion and state bill targeting unregulated DFS and sweepstakes gambling.<\/li>\n<li>Tribal leaders criticized slow enforcement and warned that offshore and prediction-market operators threaten sovereignty.<\/li>\n<li>Experts urged ongoing pressure on lawmakers and regulators to protect tribal gaming rights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>California\u2019s battle over unregulated online gaming heated up this week as tribal leaders praised two major moves..<\/p>\n<p>The first one was the state Senate advancing a bill to crack down on sweepstakes gambling. The other one was <strong>Attorney General Rob Bonta<\/strong>\u2019s new opinion declaring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/us\/dfs\">daily fantasy sports<\/a> (DFS) illegal under state law. <\/p>\n<h2>Turning Point in Defending Tribes<\/h2>\n<p>Tribal representatives, speaking during an Indian Gaming Association (IGA) webinar Wednesday, said these actions mark an important turning point in defending tribal sovereignty against out-of-state operators exploiting legal loopholes.<\/p>\n<p>The webinar, called \u201c<em>Closing the Loopholes in California: Tribal-Led Efforts to Rein in Fantasy Sports and Sweepstakes Sites<\/em>\u201d, featured IGA\u2019s <strong>Victor Rocha<\/strong> and <strong>Brian Giles<\/strong> alongside <strong>tribal gaming attorneys Scott Crowell and Joe Webster<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>Panelists unpacked both Bonta\u2019s legal opinion and <a href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB831\">Assembly Bill 831<\/a>, a proposal that tribes support to explicitly ban online sweepstakes casinos. <\/p>\n<p>The panel argued the state has been far too slow to enforce existing laws, leaving tribes to fight against companies operating in murky legal territory.<\/p>\n<p>Webster commented,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>An avalanche is already happening against these [operators]. You\u2019re seeing state-by-state legislation, AG opinions, enforcement action, and a lot of lawsuits. A whole range of gaming that tribes are supposed to have exclusivity for is being run over by these operators<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Rocha added that California\u2019s size makes it the key battleground: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>After California, they\u2019re not going to have much oxygen left. I think Texas is coming right behind us, especially when it\u2019s this egregious exploitation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Tribal Gaming Attorney: \u201cThis Shouldn\u2019t Be a Hard Sell\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>Yet frustration simmered over the lack of action to date. Crowell criticized Bonta\u2019s office for failing to crack down on sweepstakes despite their clear illegality. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Attorney General Bonta will say the legislature is dealing with this, so in the meantime I\u2019ll do nothing, which is what he\u2019s been doing since he\u2019s been in office<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Webster agreed enforcement is critical: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>This shouldn\u2019t be a hard sell to state regulators. The statutory language is abundantly clear.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"position:relative;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dz_NPaV0KAw?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0?ecver=2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;left:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Panelists warned that offshore operators continue to profit unchecked and even mount PR campaigns portraying California\u2019s moves as unfair. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, prediction-market companies like Kalshi pose an even newer threat, potentially undermining tribal and state-regulated betting through federal loopholes. <\/p>\n<p>Crowell noted,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Of all the threats we\u2019ve talked about, the CFTC prediction market and Kalshi product are the most worrisome<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As technology evolves and illegal operators adapt, the panel agreed that tribes must keep pressing lawmakers and regulators. Rocha summed up the stakes bluntly, saying that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/us\/states\/california\">California<\/a> is \u201c<em>the place where this all ends<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary: California tribes praised a new AG opinion and state bill targeting unregulated DFS and sweepstakes gambling. Tribal leaders criticized slow enforcement and warned that offshore and prediction-market operators threaten sovereignty. Experts urged ongoing pressure on lawmakers and regulators to protect tribal gaming rights. California\u2019s battle over unregulated online gaming heated up this week as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legislation","category-sports","category-usa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>California Tribes Push Back on DFS and Sweepstakes Operators<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"California tribal leaders are stepping up their fight against unregulated daily fantasy sports and sweepstakes casinos, calling for tougher enforcement and faster action to defend tribal sovereignty.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California Tribes Push Back on DFS and Sweepstakes Operators\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"California tribal leaders are stepping up their fight against unregulated daily fantasy sports and sweepstakes casinos, calling for tougher enforcement and faster action to defend tribal sovereignty.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-10T13:01:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/california.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ella McDonald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ella McDonald\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ella McDonald\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2\"},\"headline\":\"California Tribes Push Back on DFS and Sweepstakes Operators\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-10T13:01:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":487,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/california.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Legislation\",\"Sports\",\"USA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/\",\"name\":\"California Tribes Push Back on DFS and Sweepstakes Operators\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/california.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-10T13:01:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2\"},\"description\":\"California tribal leaders are stepping up their fight against unregulated daily fantasy sports and sweepstakes casinos, calling for tougher enforcement and faster action to defend tribal sovereignty.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/california.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/california.jpg\",\"width\":380,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"California\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2\",\"name\":\"Ella McDonald\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ella McDonald\"},\"description\":\"Worldwide gambling related news stories are what you will find being written by Ella, she has a keen interest however in UK and European based new stories relating to all gaming environments, and she is always prepared to ask the difficult questions many other journalists avoiding asking those in power.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/ella-mcdonald\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"California Tribes Push Back on DFS and Sweepstakes Operators","description":"California tribal leaders are stepping up their fight against unregulated daily fantasy sports and sweepstakes casinos, calling for tougher enforcement and faster action to defend tribal sovereignty.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"California Tribes Push Back on DFS and Sweepstakes Operators","og_description":"California tribal leaders are stepping up their fight against unregulated daily fantasy sports and sweepstakes casinos, calling for tougher enforcement and faster action to defend tribal sovereignty.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/","article_published_time":"2025-07-10T13:01:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":380,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/california.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ella McDonald","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ella McDonald","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/"},"author":{"name":"Ella McDonald","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2"},"headline":"California Tribes Push Back on DFS and Sweepstakes Operators","datePublished":"2025-07-10T13:01:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/"},"wordCount":487,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/california.jpg","articleSection":["Legislation","Sports","USA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/","name":"California Tribes Push Back on DFS and Sweepstakes Operators","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/california.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-10T13:01:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2"},"description":"California tribal leaders are stepping up their fight against unregulated daily fantasy sports and sweepstakes casinos, calling for tougher enforcement and faster action to defend tribal sovereignty.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/california-tribes-push-back-on-daily-fantasy-sports-and-sweepstakes-operators\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/california.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/california.jpg","width":380,"height":250,"caption":"California"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/","name":"","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1847ac7fb6ef98e52b80c47d530441b2","name":"Ella McDonald","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ac56b981b072b072e8d6f617f427556a214f8f44f28443625afa736fbba7696?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","caption":"Ella McDonald"},"description":"Worldwide gambling related news stories are what you will find being written by Ella, she has a keen interest however in UK and European based new stories relating to all gaming environments, and she is always prepared to ask the difficult questions many other journalists avoiding asking those in power.","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/author\/ella-mcdonald\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14359\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}