AUSTIN, Texas — Daily fantasy sports games that charge players to compete cannot operate legally in Texas, the state's attorney general said on Tuesday, making it the latest U.S. state to challenge the legality of such online contests.
Online operators' claims that they can "operate as an unregulated house" do not "square with existing Texas law," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement on his office's website.
"A court would likely determine that participation in daily fantasy sports leagues is illegal gambling under section 47.02 of the Penal Code," he said in a letter with his non-binding opinion posted on the site.