A federal judge in California has kept alive a class action accusing DraftKings of misleading users by describing daily fantasy sports contests as legal in the state. The ruling leaves open the possibility of a preliminary injunction that could block California residents from accessing the games.
According to Courthouse News, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said his initial impression was that the plaintiffs had standing and that the games at issue were prohibited by state law. He also said claims under the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law were likely to move forward and could support injunctive relief.
The lawsuit was filed in June 2025 by Brandon Moore, Zhicheng Zhen and Jonathan Smith in the Northern District of California. The complaint says DraftKings, a Delaware company headquartered in Boston, runs mobile gambling apps and websites in California while representing its Daily Fantasy Sports and Pick6 contests as legal forms of gambling, which the plaintiffs say they are not.
The plaintiffs are seeking to stop what they describe as unlawful gambling and to recover money they say DraftKings took from them. The amended complaint also added state-law violations, RICO claims and a request for declaratory relief, and said the case met the Class Action Fairness Act threshold because the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million.
Breyer’s comments tracked a July 2025 opinion from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, which concluded that California law prohibits the operation of daily fantasy sports games by players physically located in the state, regardless of where the operator or associated technology is located. The opinion said such games amount to sports wagering under Penal Code section 337a, and that it was unnecessary to decide whether they also violate the state’s lottery ban.
DraftKings denied that the challenged games were unlawful in California and argued that the plaintiffs suffered no economic injury because customers got the game they wanted under the represented rules. Breyer questioned why the company heavily advertises the legality of its games in California if the point is immaterial, and said some people do care about not engaging in conduct that is illegal.
In December 2025, Breyer had dismissed the case with leave to amend, saying the plaintiffs had sought equitable relief without showing that monetary damages alone would be inadequate. GamingAmerica reported that if the dispute ends in geofencing California, it could cost DraftKings a sizable chunk of its DFS business.
