Seven-State Withdrawal Announced on X
Underdog Sports will surrender its fantasy sports licenses in Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to a post by founder and CEO Jeremy Levine on X on 5 September. The company is pulling its Drafts product from all seven markets in a move that prioritizes its prediction market business over its original fantasy sports offering.
Existing drafts already entered in those states will continue as scheduled. Underdog will stop accepting new drafts, with the service closing immediately after the first game of the 2026 NFL season begins on 9 September.
State Regulators Force the Choice
Levine said the decision stemmed from a legal position taken by authorities in the seven states. Underdog holds approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for its prediction market product, but state regulators told the company it would not be permitted to operate both prediction markets and fantasy sports in the same jurisdiction.
“Those states have taken a legal viewpoint we disagree with, so we had to choose,” Levine wrote. “We could keep our fantasy licences in those states, or surrender the licenses and offer effectively our full experience, minus Drafts.”
The company chose the latter option, retaining its prediction market access while giving up the fantasy sports licenses.
A Product With Personal Significance
Drafts was the first game Underdog launched when it entered the market in 2020, and Levine described the decision to drop it as painful. “It sucks,” he wrote. “I love Drafts. It was the first game we ever launched and a big part of what built Underdog. Even though they don’t get anywhere near the usage of our other offerings, we still care deeply about them.”
Levine said the company is working on plans to bring Drafts back to more customers and called himself “optimistic” about finding a path forward, though he added it was “too early to commit to anything.”
Not the First Strategic Retreat
The move follows a similar pattern. In December, Underdog announced it was shutting its sportsbook in North Carolina to narrow its focus on fantasy and prediction markets. The company has increasingly positioned its CFTC-regulated prediction market product as its core offering, even as it scales back other lines of business where state-level regulatory frameworks create conflicts.
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Topics: CFTC · fantasy sports · iGaming · state regulation · Underdog Sports · Prediction Markets
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