California State Assemblyman Marc Levine is calling on state Attorney General Kamala Harris to order daily fantasy sports sites to "immediately discontinue their fantasy operations, saying they are gambling sites," according to Matier & Ross of the S.F. CHRONICLE. He said that the only difference is that "rather than bet on a specific team or game, fantasy players bet on the individual performance of various players." It is "estimated that 6 million Californians will play on the sites this year, and the number is growing." Sources in the AG's office said that DFS is "on our radar, especially in light of what is going on in New York" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 12/19). A SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE editorial stated some regulation of DFS is "plainly needed, given the evidence that some of the people who work for DraftKings and FanDuel have used insider information to profit in daily competitions." The companies "say this problem has been addressed and is under control," but that is "not good enough." Employees with access to betting patterns "shouldn’t be allowed to profit from this knowledge by betting in daily leagues." That "should be the starting point for any California law regulating fantasy sports" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/19).
