Virginia Daily Fantasy Sports Sites

Licensed Virginia Fantasy Sports Apps

The Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs () under the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services regulates fantasy sports in Virginia. Primary OCRP duties include issuing licenses to DFS operators and ensuring compliance with all consumer protection regulations.

What that means for sports fans is that they can play fantasy sports online with operators that are obligated by state law to treat them fairly, protect their private information, prevent collusion, and respond promptly to customer complaints.

Eleven fantasy sites hold Virginia DFS licenses today:

Readers can verify any fantasy site’s Virginia license on the .

The OCRP initially charged fantasy sites a $50,000 licensing fee but reduced it to $8,300 several years later. In doing so, the OCRP expanded the pool of operators willing to go through Virginia’s licensing process.

The decision resulted in giving Virginians a significantly wider variety of fantasy sites to choose from. Now, fans can play daily fantasy games, season-long contests, and parlay-style predictions games with licensed operators.

Pick’em Fantasy Sports in Virginia

Multiple fantasy pick’em sports sites are licensed in Virginia and offer over/under prediction contests, also sometimes known as fantasy props.

Prominent pick’em fantasy sports sites like PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy have operated in Virginia for years, but their legality came under question in late 2023 after an unfavorable opinion from the Office of the Attorney General.

, issued in response to a query from a Virginia lawmaker, concluded that fantasy pick’em sports contests constitute online sports betting under state law and should be regulated as such:

“Accordingly, it is my opinion that when a customer places a bet related to individual athletes’ performance metrics, the outcome of which is determined by reference to a contest operator’s established baseline rather than by choices made by other customers, the customer is engaged in sports betting and not a fantasy contest.”

The Attorney General’s opinion was non-binding, meaning it did not immediately impact fantasy pick’em sites in Virginia. However, it set the stage for potential future action against fantasy sites that offer pick’em contests.

In the meantime, Virginia’s licensed fantasy pick’em apps remain open to customers. Several operators have since launched peer-to-peer fantasy pick’em contests in which customers compete against each other rather than against the house for real-money payouts.

Peer-to-peer pick’em contests may provide a way for licensed DFS sites to continue offering over/under fantasy contests in Virginia should regulators take aim at player-vs-house games. Regulators in some states only oppose pick’em-style contests played against the house, but others have adopted regulations prohibiting any contest that resembles proposition betting.

Virginia DFS Laws and Regulations

The Fantasy Contests Act () regulates daily fantasy sports in Virginia and gives the Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs (OCRP) oversight powers.

Virginia law requires all daily fantasy sites to register with the department and receive approval before offering real-money games in the Commonwealth. Initial licenses cost $8,300, and operators must renew them annually for $8,300.

In addition, the licensing process requires operators to verify that they have established procedures to ensure compliance with all Virginia DFS regulations.

Restricted Virginia DFS Players

State law requires Virginia daily fantasy sports apps to prevent certain categories of customers from participating in real-money contests. Operators must have technologies and procedures in place to:

• Prevent anyone under 18 from participating in fantasy contests
• Prevent Virginia DFS operators and their same-household relatives from participating in games on their own platforms
• Prevent athletes, officials, and employees of sports leagues from participating in contests involving games they could impact

Virginia DFS Consumer Protection Requirements

Licensed Virginia daily fantasy sports sites must support responsible gambling by providing methods for players to restrict themselves from entering fantasy contests.

Additionally, Virginia DFS licensees must:

• Prevent the sharing of confidential information with third parties could impact fantasy contests until that information becomes publicly available
• Publicly disclose the number of entries each player may submit to each contest and ensure customers cannot exceed that number
• Segregate customers’ funds from operational funds to ensure players can always withdraw their balances
• Submit to annual third-party audits to ensure compliance with all Virginia fantasy sports regulations

How Virginia Legalized DFS Apps

Virginia legalized daily fantasy sports and established a licensing process for operators in 2016 when lawmakers passed and , companion bills creating the Fantasy Contests Act.

Although DFS sites had operated in the US for years by then, lawmakers were treading on unfamiliar territory because Virginia was the first state to formally legalize and regulate fantasy sports.

However, Virginia lawmakers had a lot of help crafting their legislation from pro-DFS lobbying groups employed by gaming operators. Anti-gambling group Stop Predatory Gambling (SPG) pounced on that point in opposing Virginia’s DFS bill, describing it as using “cookie cutter language” found in similar proposals in more than a dozen states.

The letter also claimed Virginia’s law defined “fantasy contests” so vaguely that operators could theoretically host prop-bet-style contests played against the house, such as asking players to predict which of two quarterbacks would throw for more yards on Sunday.

Although SPG’s letter employed more than a little hyperbole, its claim regarding proposition fantasy contests has proven true. As SPG predicted, parlay fantasy sites have indeed proliferated in recent years, with DFS sports prediction apps holding contests that look a lot like full-fledged sports betting in Virginia.

However, pro-DFS lawmakers in Virginia pointed out that residents were already playing fantasy sports in large numbers. In their view, it made more sense to regulate the industry and establish consumer protection measures for participants.

When he introduced HB 646 in 2016, Senator Ryan McDougle said, “it’s not expansive. It’s not burdensome. But it does put in some protection for consumers.”

Likewise, Delegate Jackson Miller that “over a million Virginians play these. And I do have concerns about people wanting to come in and just shut the concept down.”

Virginia Daily Fantasy Sports FAQ