Solo and Small Firm

The Practitioner Spring 2016, Volume 22, Issue 2

Golden State Resolution: Daily Fantasy Sports and the California Legislature working together for the common good?

By Jeremy Evans

Jeremy M. Evans is the Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer, representing sports and entertainment professionals and businesses in contract drafting, negotiations, licensing, and career growth. He is the Director of the Center for Sports Law & Policy at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California. Evans is an award-winning attorney and community leader. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com or via his website: www.CSLlegal.com.

Legislative entities are normally known for their reaction to societal issues, but sometimes they are proactive and get things done before litigation and consumer harm. Proactive and "ahead of the game" might be the best way to describe the California Legislature’s response and its working together with Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) websites FanDuel and DraftKings on legislation. The legislation is Assembly Bill 1437, which attempts to protect the DFS industry and the consumer, while giving tax revenues to the State of California.

As reported by the Legal Sports Report on January 6, 2016, "California became the first jurisdiction in the United States to pass a daily fantasy sports regulation bill out of a committee hearing . . . The bill sponsored by Assemblymember Adam Gray [D-Merced] – AB 1437 – passed through the Governmental Organization Committee nearly unanimously. Assemblymember Marc Levine [D-San Rafael], who has been an outspoken critic of the DFS industry, was the only ‘no’ vote."1 On January 27, 2016, the entire Assembly passed the bill convincingly, 62-1.2

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