Underdog Sports is surrendering its fantasy sports licences in seven US states to focus on prediction markets. The platform will withdraw its Drafts product from Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Founder and CEO Jeremy Levine announced the decision on 5 September. The platform will stop accepting new entries but will allow ongoing tournaments to finish. Full closure of Drafts in these states is set for 9 September 2026, ahead of the new NFL season.
The move follows pressure from state regulators, who told Underdog it cannot offer prediction markets while holding fantasy sports licences. Underdog secured approval from the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch prediction markets but disputes the interpretation by state authorities.
"These states have taken a legal position we disagree with, so we had to choose," Levine wrote. "We could keep the fantasy licences or give them up and offer the full functionality, minus Drafts."
Levine acknowledged that Drafts was the company's first product and played a significant role in its early growth. Underdog is working on plans to bring the product back to more customers, but no decisions have been made yet.
This is not the first shift. Last December the company exited the North Carolina sports betting market to concentrate on fantasy sports and prediction markets.
