Weekly Column: The Digital Playbook of Cryptocurrency, DFS, in Sports

In this week’s column, California Sports Lawyer® CEO, Founder, and Managing Attorney Jeremy M. Evans writes about the growth of digital products like cryptocurrency, daily fantasy sports, and betting, creating moneymaking opportunities and compliance issues.

What all of this means for college and professional athletes is the ability for endorsing more digital products and/or getting paid with digital products.

You can read the full column below. (Past columns can be found, here).

In the post-House settlement world of college sports, there seems to be infinite ways that college athletes can legally make money while in school playing a sport. Moneymaking ability will differ by sport, school, and athlete, but there does seem to be an increasing market for cryptocurrency and daily fantasy sports developing. A new digital economy is taking shape with legislation and policy.

The digital sports economy consists of cryptocurrency, fantasy sports, and sports betting. In the past, this column addressed some of the issues with the endorsement of cryptocurrency products. The GENIUS Act and the purchase of U.S. approved-QCX exchange by Polymarket has completely changed the landscape. There is however two issues and at least two more major pieces of legislation that will further alter the digital the market.

In California, Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an opinion on July 3, 2025, that daily fantasy sports (“DFS”) are considered illegal activity in the state. This decision, although not a legal opinion from a court or legislation from the legislature, is causing concern, delay, and uncertainty in the California DFS market. Gambling and sports betting is already illegal or severely restricted in California except on reservations and in smaller contexts like charitable gaming.

The federal government through Congress has passed the ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL Act that places a 90% cap on gambling debts as a tax write-off, which may result in people spending less on sports betting, but will also provide a tax revenue stream that did not exist before (e.g., like taxing marijuana or alcohol purchases). However, a bi-partisan effort is underway to change the aforementioned legislation to bring the number back to a 100% write-off threshold. Lastly, the CLARITY Act in Congress will seek to continue to develop and maintain the cryptocurrency market for safety, fairness, oversight, and American economic dominance in the space.

What all of this means for college and professional athletes is the ability for endorsing of more digital products and/or getting paid with digital products. Endorsement is dependent on state law and of course approval by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and reporting to the College Sports Commission. However, California high school, college, and professional athletes may be at a distinct disadvantage in the digital space until California changes its laws on DFS and gambling/sports betting. On the other hand, athletes are severely limited in any relationship with sports betting because of union, conference, university policies, and the appearance of impropriety.

The general public will see an uptick in the use of digital assets as restrictions ease and use becomes more commonplace. Banks will also push into the space to satisfy customers, increase profits, and diversify assets and investments. The use of Polymarket for daily use, DFS, and more could see a significant increase in games and things, people, or events to bet. There is also contract law and negotiations in individual name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) deals that will help determine the reach of digital assets, while blockchain technology can help with secure transactions and compliance.

About Jeremy M. Evans:

Jeremy M. Evans is the Chief Entrepreneur Officer, Founder & Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer®, representing entertainment, media, and sports clients in contractual, intellectual property, and dealmaking matters. Evans is an award-winning attorney and industry leader based in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com. www.CSLlegal.com.