Last updated on: August 25th, 2023
States With Legal Daily Fantasy Sports
There are legal daily fantasy sports sites available throughout the US, with 45 current states offering the legal sports betting activity. Even if a state does not offer state-regulated sports betting, DFS could still be legal and available because they do not fall under the same category. DFS is a game of skill making it easy for many states with daily fantasy sports to allow operations. FanDuel and DraftKings are the biggest DFS apps for US players, both offering daily and weekly competitions for a wide variety of sports and sporting events. While the NFL is by far the most popular sports league for DFS in the US, there are many different types of sports offered.
Current Situation With Legal Daily Fantasy Sports
The concept of legal DFS betting sites is nothing new – you choose the best players to put on your team, and their real-life stats translate into points for you. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins. Daily fantasy sports sites that accept US residents allow you to put real money down on it. This had lawmakers calling into question whether or not DFS is technically a game of skill, or a form of pseudo sports betting that violates current state law.
DFS operators claim that their paid-entry events do not constitute gambling because the results are not wholly based on chance. Rather, they are based almost entirely on skill. By labeling themselves as a game of skill, the number of states with daily fantasy sports have greatly increased. Also, the operators player pool is larger relative to the number of states with legal sports betting. Still, some states even went so far as to start kicking out legal daily fantasy sports sites. Because of this, it can be hard to determine which are states with legal daily fantasy sports and which are not.
The Gray Area Of DFS
Without legislation in place, DFS is not legal or illegal. It’s stuck in a gray area. An Attorney General can issue their opinions and send cease and desist letters all they want – if there is no legislation on the books, there’s really no legal leg for them to stand on. As they’re just interpreting the law in a singular way, legal DFS sites see themselves as games of chance and therefore don’t believe they are violating current gambling laws. So in most states, it’s really coming down to a matter of opinion. This is why the CEOs of DraftKings and FanDuel have been traveling across the country for the past couple of years, speaking with state representatives and making their case for legalizing DFS. This way, states can collect taxes and licensing fees from the companies, while the DFS sites can have a permanent space in states with legal daily fantasy sports.
All Of The States with Daily Fantasy Sports
The states that have already passed the legislation have created regulatory frameworks, licenses, and fee structures for DFS sites to adhere to. The DFS laws are often even very similar to the rules that the legal daily fantasy sports sites apply to themselves. A good example of those laws is in Massachusetts with Regulation 940 CMR 34.00. The law basically set the let the legal DFS age to 21, defined beginners/experts, and set a standard for all DFS sites to abide by. All of the current states with legal DFS betting sites are below.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
* Though Louisiana has legalized DFS in 47 out of 50 local parishes, there are still additional regulatory standards that need to be established. For now, most DFS operators do not provide their services to the state.
Which States Do Not Have Daily Fantasy Sports
Currently, there are several states that don’t have daily fantasy sports and have asked DFS sites to stop their operations. Rather than get into with the AG, these sites have pulled their services, and are attempting to get legislation passed that would allow them to become states with legal daily fantasy sports.
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Montana
- Nevada
- Washington
Which States Are Not Accepted At DraftKings – Which States Can’t Use DraftKings?
DraftKings is one of America’s largest DFS provers and serves states that house over 80% of the U.S. population. Unfortunately, there are still a few states that aren’t served by DraftKings though. It is incumbent upon individual states to legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports, and the following states have elected to disallow DFS games.
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Montana
- Nevada
- Oregon
- Washington
Which States Are Not Accepted At FanDuel – Which States Can’t Use FanDuel?
Over 40 states out of 50 states are accepted by FanDuel. Louisiana joined this list of states accepted by DraftKings but certain perishes are restricted from real money DFS play. Most of the states are accepted by FanDuel but there are some players residing in the states listed below can’t be a part of DraftKings until lawmakers get on board.
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Montana
- Nevada
- Washington
States That May Have Daily Fantasy Sports In 2023 Or Soon After
Coming pretty soon, states will think and reconsider having DFS in their states. With so many players leaning towards playing DFS a lot more during sports seasons, having DFS legal and available for all players to play seems like a gold mine. Adding DFS to state’s lawbooks could easily add additional tax revenue and funding for state projects. Making sure that a lot of players can play DFS in certain states could avoid some big-time cuts that may have been considered because of COVID-19. While DFS sites already accept players from most states, the states that may have DFS in 2023 are looking to join in the mix.
Recent Changes With Daily Fantasy Sports
There have been big changes going on for DFS and this works to the benefit of the players. These changes include the states with daily fantasy sports, as legislation is often paired with sports betting laws. With popular operators also having sportsbooks, this only expands what they can do and have more players come and sign up. The states like these changes knowing they are getting tax revenue from both legal DFS betting sites and sportsbooks. This only means more money and more changes to support it.
Do DFS Apps Offer College Sports Contests?
There are plenty of DFS apps for US players that offer college betting competitions. In fact, both DraftKings and FanDuel offering the activity. However, there are still certain states that do not allow college DFS. This is the same concept as legal sports betting in the US. For players residing or betting in states with restrictions, legal online sports betting sites like Bovada do not offer DFS but do offer legal sports betting on college teams and player props.
Can I Use Cryptocurrency To Fund My DFS Account?
While this could change in the future, there are no current daily fantasy sports sites that accept US residents and cryptocurrency. Even though crypto is one of the fastest and most efficient sportsbook deposit methods, DFS players will have to stick to credit card/PayPal transactions. For players that want to bet on individual games/players, however, crypto is accepted at online sportsbooks like Bovada and BetOnline.
