Is sports betting legal in California?

What the law says

California still has no legal sportsbook. The Attorney General spelled it out in Opinion 23-1001, dated 3 July 2025: traditional sports wagering is something "California law generally prohibits, but many other States now allow," and daily fantasy games played by people in California "constitute wagering on sports in violation of Penal Code section 337a." The opinion says this holds no matter where the operator and its servers sit.

The one exception the opinion names is horse racing. Section 337a once banned that too, until voters amended the constitution to allow pari-mutuel wagering on horse races. So a pari-mutuel bet on a horse race is legal here, and that's where it stops.

There is no state regulator for sports betting and no list of licensed books, because there aren't any.

The 2022 vote, and what's on the ballot now

Californians were asked directly in November 2022, and they said no twice. The Secretary of State's Statement of Vote has Proposition 26, sports wagering on tribal lands, losing 33.0 percent to 67.0 percent, and Proposition 27, online sports wagering outside tribal lands, losing 17.7 percent to 82.3 percent. That isn't a close call, and I'd take it as the voters' answer until they're asked again.

Nothing on sports betting is coming up yet. The Secretary of State's list of qualified measures for 3 November 2026 and the 2028 ballots has none on gambling, and neither do the lists of initiatives cleared for circulation or eligible for 2028. I won't guess when another try comes.

Where the offshore books fit

Plenty of offshore books take players from California. None is licensed by the state, so if one slow-pays you or voids a winning ticket, there's no California agency to complain to. A state-licensed book is one a state can hold to account, and California has none to offer. Our offshore sportsbooks section explains how those books work, and the VPN question covers what happens when a book finds out where you really are. I'd read both before believing anyone who says it's simple.

Wherever the money is won, it is fully taxable on your federal return.

If betting has turned into a problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER, and our responsible gambling page lists tools that help.

*Checked against the California Attorney General's Opinion 23-1001 and the Secretary of State's ballot measure lists on 28 October 2026. Laws change; this page is re-checked every quarter. This is not legal advice.*