Gambling.

Major league sports raffles are now authorized at championship games held at the designated venue where an affiliated team plays home games, in addition to the previously allowed home games only.

Raffles are prohibited from being conducted over the internet or within racetrack inclosures or gambling establishments. Raffle tickets cannot be sold in exchange for cryptocurrency. Slot machines may not be used. Employees cannot sell tickets in family sections.

The voting requirement changed from a simple majority to a two-thirds vote of each house, because the bill now expands provisions that revise the percentage of gross receipts required to go to beneficial or charitable purposes under the California Constitution.

Eligible organizations must pay a minimum annual registration fee of $10,000 plus $200 per raffle conducted. Manufacturers or distributors of raffle-related products must also register with a minimum annual fee of $10,000. Persons conducting manual draws must register annually with a minimum fee of $20.

Eligible organizations must file seasonal or annual reports with the Department of Justice within 60 days after the end of the league season, including gross receipts, prize totals, winning ticket numbers, vendor payments, and itemized costs. Failure to file is grounds for denial of registration and penalties.

A new Major League Sporting Event Raffle Fund is created in the State Treasury. A loan of up to $1,005,000 from the General Fund is authorized for initial implementation, repayable no later than December 31, 2023, with annual disbursements capped at $335,000.

New definitions are established for 'charitable purposes' (excluding purposes benefiting officers, directors, or members), 'eligible organization' (private nonprofit affiliated with MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, WNBA, MLS, PGA, LPGA, or NASCAR teams), and 'raffle' (requiring manual draw, no random number generators, 50 percent of gross receipts as prize).

The Department of Justice is given authority to investigate violations, audit records, take legal action against registrants, deny or revoke registrations, and impose fines. Local law enforcement must notify the department of arrests or investigations involving registrants.

The document was reformatted from the official chaptered law format (with page numbers, centered headers, and traditional legislative layout) to a web-based presentation that includes navigation menus, search tools, version history links, and other website interface elements. No substantive policy language was changed.

The bill was renumbered as Chapter 584 of the 2025 statutes, with page headers changed from 'SB 451' to 'Ch. 584' and a 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' header added.

Governor approval date (October 10, 2025) and filing with Secretary of State date were added to the document.

Senate and Assembly passage dates, clerk signature lines, and the governor's receipt-of-bill line were removed as they are no longer needed in the chaptered version.

Entire new Section 19827.5 was deleted. This section would have required the department to refer completed investigations of illegal gambling outside licensed establishments to district attorneys or the Attorney General, assist prosecutors with reports and expert testimony, coordinate with local law enforcement on information sharing and training, submit annual reports to the Governor and Legislature, and develop public awareness campaigns.

The phrase 'irrespective of whether the suspected violation involves licensees' was added to Section 19826(c)(2) and Section 19827(a)(3)(B), clarifying that the department's authority to investigate illegal gambling outside licensed establishments is not limited to cases involving licensed operators.

The state-mandated local program designation changed from 'yes' to 'no,' reflecting the removal of duties imposed on local law enforcement agencies.

The provision giving the Attorney General authority to prosecute cases when a local district attorney declines was removed along with Section 19827.5.

The requirement for the department to prepare and submit an annual report to the Governor and Legislature detailing investigations, outcomes, and enforcement challenges was removed.

Section 4, which provided for state reimbursement of local agency costs under the state mandates clause, was removed because the bill no longer imposes a state-mandated local program.

Removed the redundant sentence 'However, nothing in this paragraph limits the powers conferred by any other law on agents of the department who are peace officers' from Section 19827(a)(3)(A), since the same language already appears in subsection (C) of the same paragraph.

Changed 'Attorney General's Web site' to 'Attorney General's internet website' in Section 19826(g).

Corrected 'in the presence of the licensee or his or her the licensee's agent' to 'in the presence of the licensee or the licensee's agent' in Section 19827(a)(1)(E), removing a redundant and grammatically incorrect phrase.

Changed the state-mandated local program designation from 'yes' to 'yes no.' in the fiscal analysis, which could affect how local agency reimbursement obligations are characterized.