relevant because Underdog<\/a> and some of its comparable competitors operate in states that are coveted by the sports betting industry. Currently, Underdog offers its fantasy games in 41 states and its fantasy pick \u2018em games in 39 states. As just a few examples, Underdog is operational in California, Florida, Georgia, and Texas, none of which have competitive sports wagering markets. Florida is the only member of the quartet to permit that activity and there, it\u2019s controlled by the Seminole Tribe.<\/p>\nUnderdog Says Law is on Its Side<\/h2>\n Levine stated in the letter that the state-level laws, which he believes were essentially written by DraftKings and FanDuel lobbyists, make clear that fantasy sports are much broader than the salary cap methodology used by the two giants.<\/p>\n
\u201cEqually important, in nearly every state where a sports betting law has been passed, the law makes crystal clear that fantasy sports are not sports betting. Explicitly, these laws state that if a contest is fantasy sports, it is therefore not sports betting,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, while employed at StarSteet in 2012, Levine designed the industry\u2019s first-ever single-player fantasy game. It was later sold to DraftKings.<\/strong><\/p>\nPerhaps further rankling DraftKings and FanDuel is the point that in some of the fastest-growing sports betting states, courts have consistently held that Underdog\u2019s offerings fit the bill as legal fantasy sports offerings.<\/p>\n
Regulators across the country – including in states where mobile sports betting is also legal – have concluded our games perfectly fit within the legal definition of fantasy sports. This includes determinations in Arizona, Colorado, and Indiana, where the same regulators oversee both fantasy and betting, that our products are fantasy contests,\u201d concluded Levine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Thirteen months ago, Underdog raised $35 million in a Series B round of financing<\/a>, valuing the company at $485 million. Investors include Mark Cuban, Kevin Durant, Trae Young, Odell Beckham Jr., Breon Corcoran (ex-CEO Paddy Power Betfair\/Flutter), Mitch Garber, Eilers & Krejcik, Liontree Partners, Kevin Carter, Mark Pincus (founder of Zynga), SV Angel, The Chainsmokers, Kygo, Steve Aoki, Nas, Future, Acies Investment and BlackRock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Underdog Sports, a provider of paid fantasy sports contests, claims DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) and FanDuel are waging \u201cback room\u201d campaigns aimed at maintaining their duopoly and stifling innovation in the daily fantasy sports (DFS) arena. In their early days, DraftKings and FanDuel pioneered the concept of DFS, a departure from the traditional season-long formats that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":223424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14007,33810,60,61,1074],"tags":[84813,81928,81901,81895,80968],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Underdog Fantasy Says DraftKings, FanDuel Fear Competition<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n