As a Congressman, California Rep. Ro Khanna wouldn’t get to vote on any potential state legislation that would ban daily fantasy sports out west. But he’s made himself perfectly clear on where he stands.
Khanna was a guest on the Stephen A. Smith Show on Thursday, where one of many questions he was asked by the broadcaster was, “what the hell is this I’m hearing about California legislators are proposing a ban on online fantasy sports?”
The Democrat used the question not only as an opportunity to give his own thoughts on the idea of prohibiting DFS but also as a stick with which to beat his own political party.
“I’m opposed to that,” Khanna told Smith. “I did fantasy teams growing up … and it always amazed me that you’d be watching these games, and folks will be less concerned about whether the Eagles are going to win or the 49ers are going to win. They’d just be cheering for the random offensive lineman because they had them on their fantasy team.
“That’s the fun of sports! When you’re talking about dumb things the Democratic Party does, it’s like, ‘let’s go ban fantasy sports, and then let’s pay $20 million to understand why we’re losing young men.’ I mean, come on. And you wonder why we’re in the state we are as a party. It’s laughable.”
Khanna shared the clip on social media platform X on Friday.
“Free tip: I don’t need a $20 million study to tell me that banning fantasy football sites in CA is a dumb idea.”
Bonta verdict expected before Independence Day
The context of Khanna’s comments is the news that emerged that California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office is apparently days away from issuing an opinion that fantasy sports are in violation of state law.
Local news outlet KCRA 3 first reported that Bonta’s office is expected to issue an opinion before July 3.
SBC Americas understands the verdict from the AG will apply to all DFS offerings, encompassing against-the-house pick’em offerings, peer-to-peer play such as DraftKings’ Pick 6, traditional DFS and any other form of fantasy with a cash prize.
California is estimated to be the largest DFS market in the U.S., and data provided by the California Business Journal estimates that DFS operators in the state accept approximately $200 million in entry fees annually. Fantasy play in California is unregulated and therefore operators can keep all their revenue from fantasy games without paying tax on it to the state.
The idea of banning them has been publicly supported by tribes and tribal associations such as the California Nations of Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) and opposed by the Coalition for Fantasy Sports, among other commenters in each camp.
While all this is going on, two groups have filed class action lawsuits against DraftKings and PrizePicks in the Northern District of California, challenging the legality of pick’em fantasy and contests featuring more traditional lineups.
