Florida Daily Fantasy Sports Sites

Lawmakers have introduced multiple bills over the years to regulate and tax Florida fantasy sports sites but haven’t yet passed one into law. Concerns over how such legislation would impact the state’s gaming compact with the powerful Seminole tribe play a significant role in some lawmakers’ reticence to regulate DFS contests.

With that said, the most important takeaway for readers is that daily fantasy sports apps and websites are functionally legal in the most practical sense. Prominent fantasy sports sites operate openly in Florida, and an estimated three million Floridians play online at the nation’s two largest DFS operators alone.

Pick’em Fantasy Sports in Florida

Florida law permits peer-to-peer pick’em fantasy sports contests but not player-vs-house games.

That means daily fantasy sports sites in Florida may offer contests in which fans compete with one another for real-money payouts by making over/under predictions on athletes’ projected stat totals (rushing yards, strikeouts, etc.). In contrast, Florida expressly prohibits player-vs-house fantasy pick’em contests played for fixed payouts.

Legal developments in late 2023 and early 2024 nearly shut pick’em fantasy sports out of Florida permanently, but multiple DFS operators returned after developing peer-to-peer variants of their popular prediction-style contests.

The good news for fans who enjoyed player-vs-house fantasy pick’em contests before Florida banned them is that peer-to-peer games aren’t much different. The fundamentals that make fantasy pick’em contests attractive are the same in both cases. Peer-to-peer contests still involve selecting athletes, predicting whether they’ll exceed their projected stat totals, and winning money for accurate predictions.

Current Status of Pick’em Fantasy Sports in Florida

Although Florida law does not explicitly address daily fantasy sports, other gambling laws (and how local officials interpret those laws) impact the types of contests DFS operators may offer.

Fantasy sports sites have operated in Florida for well over a decade, but the rapid growth of pick’em style contests in recent years led to the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) investigating the pick’em format to determine if it’s compatible with state law. Ultimately, the FGCC determined that pick’em fantasy contests played against the house constitute illegal sports betting.

In September 2023, the FGCC sent cease-and-desist letters to Underdog Fantasy, PrizePicks, and Betr, ordering them to stop offering “illegal bets or wagers.”

In part, the letters stated:

“Under Florida law, betting or wagering on the result of contests of skill, such as sports betting, including fantasy sports betting, is strictly prohibited and constitutes a felony offense unless such activity is otherwise exempted by statute.”

Although the letters threatened operators and media outlets with felony offenses for offering or promoting illegal sports betting, the three DFS operators named in the letters remained active in Florida while considering their legal options.

The FGCC sent a second round of cease-and-desist letters in February 2024, this time strongly hinting at criminal action and giving pick’em fantasy sports sites 30 days to comply with the order:

“If the cessation is completed within that timeframe, the Commission will deem the company and all its officials, directors and employees to have complied with the demands of the cease-and-desit order, and the Commission will not take further action, including referral to the Office of Statewide Prosecution or to any State Attorney.”

Facing considerable escalation, Florida’s remaining pick’em fantasy sports sites were left with no choice but to comply. Neither cease-and-desist letter ordered the recipients to exit the Florida market completely but instead demanded that they stop offering the game types deemed illegal by the FGCC.

PrizePicks, Boom Fantasy, ParlayPlay, and Betr exited the Florida fantasy sports market entirely, while Underdog Fantasy remained active but disabled pick’em contests. Meanwhile, the fantasy sports sites affected by the FGCC’s decision opened dialogues with the FGCC and devised ways to make their pick’em contests compliant with state law.

Those discussions led to PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy launching peer-to-peer contests and resuming their Florida operations. Boom Fantasy also returned, but Betr and ParlayPlay remain closed to Florida customers.

Florida Daily Fantasy Sports Law

The legal status of daily fantasy sports in Florida is unclear. Neither legislation nor court case has ever decisively determined whether DFS is legal in Florida. Nonetheless, numerous daily fantasy sites have served the state for years without interference from local officials.

In 1991, a nonbinding advisory Attorney General opinion concluded that season-long fantasy sports leagues are likely illegal under Florida law but did not threaten enforcement action. The opinion noted that although entrants exercise skill in selecting athletes, they have no control over those athletes’ performances throughout the season.

However, Florida law allows residents to participate in contests of skill for money. And since many states now recognize fantasy sports as contests of skill, there’s a case for DFS being legal under Florida law.

The 1991 opinion even noted that point by stating, “it might well be argued that skill is involved in the selection of a successful fantasy team by requiring knowledge of the varying abilities and skills of the professional football players who will be selected to make up the fantasy team.”

In short, it’s unclear if Florida fantasy sports sites are legal according to state law, but it’s a moot point as far as fans are concerned. Many DFS sites operate openly in Florida without issue and have done so for years.

Efforts to Regulate Fantasy Sports in Florida

Florida’s most recent effort to legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports contests appeared in late 2023 through a bill (HB 679) prefiled ahead of the 2024 legislative session.

It’s a brief bill at just three pages in length and doesn’t establish new regulations or institute a licensing process for operators. Still, it would be impactful because it authorizes Florida daily fantasy sports contests using language that covers pick’em style games played against the house.

Operators like Underdog Fantasy and PrizePicks have come under fire nationwide over their pick ‘em style games that look and feel a lot like sports betting parlays. That includes Florida, where the Gaming Commission sent cease-and-desist letters to both operators in September 2023.

Neither operator has stopped offering pick ‘em syle DFS contests in Florida , but HB 679 would provide them some much-needed legal cover to continue operating as normal.

If enacted, HB 679 would define legal fantasy contests as games that meet the following criteria:

• Prizes must be established and disclosed to the entrants before the contest starts
• All winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants
• All winning outcomes are determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of more than one individual

The bill represents new hope for Florida fantasy sports sites amid a drought of efforts aimed at giving them legal protection. With sports betting occupying the courts, media, and lawmakers’ attention, there has been less willpower of late to legalize DFS contests.

For instance, an attempt to put a Florida sports betting referendum on the November 2022 ballot excluded fantasy sports from the definition of “sports and event betting.”

Whether Florida will ever legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports remains an open question. In the meantime, Floridians can continue to play fantasy sports online with operators like FanDuel, DraftKings, and many niche operators.

Several bills to legalize and regulate Florida fantasy sports sites materialized in 2021, but every proposal included anticompetitive or unrealistic provisions that prompted significant opposition from operators and trade associations.

For example, HB 9-A and SB 16-A included data mandates requiring licensed Florida daily fantasy sites to determine contest results based on data purchased from each professional sports league. Additionally, HB 9-A required all lineups to consist of at least seven athletes from five different teams.

Meanwhile, HB 11-A and SB 18-A called for DFS operators to pay $1 million licensing fees. HB 11-A also required operators to pay a monthly fee of $1 per contestant who entered a paid contest that month.

The Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association (FSG) issued a statement opposing the proposals and explaining why. In part, the press release stated:

While the FSGA appreciates many of the consumer protection measures that are included in these bills, and has advocated for a law in Florida that confirms the legality of fantasy sports, the FSGA cannot support these bills without significant improvements. We ask that our member companies and millions of fantasy sports enthusiasts contact their legislators in Florida to let them know that their ability to play paid fantasy sports contests is in serious jeopardy.

Fortunately for DFS players who enjoyed the wide selection of operators to choose from, none of the 2021 bills advanced beyond the committee stage. If any of those bills had become law, it would have likely prompted all but the largest Florida daily fantasy sports sites to abandon the market.

Florida Daily Fantasy Sports FAQ