Up until now, pick’em was the only game PrizePicks offered. That is about to change, as the fantasy sports operator is moving into the peer-to-peer gaming world with the launch of PrizePicks Arena.
The gist of PrizePicks Arena is that it takes the same concept as Pick’em but groups players together based on number of entries, buy-in amount and experience on PrizePicks. Within that group, players are contending for guaranteed prize pools by putting together a slate of winning predictions that generates the highest score or is a perfect entry.
“We’re focused on expanding PrizePicks’ reach by creating new, innovative game types that push the PrizePicks brand and truly put sports fans at the center of gameplay,” said Brian Huss, PrizePicks’ VP of Innovation. “PrizePicks Arena is an exciting new twist on the PrizePicks experience that paves the way for future product innovations.”
The product is now live in Alabama, Wyoming, West Virginia and Tennessee with plans to expand into more states in the future.
The news comes after competitor Underdog Fantasy rolled out a similar peer-to-peer pick’em product in November of last year.
With the addition of peer-to-peer products, PrizePicks potentially sets itself up to move into new markets that specifically prohibited fantasy against the house.
It also sets up for PrizePicks to continue on in states that are currently reconsidering the status of fantasy against the house like Colorado and Arizona and states that have changed their rules on fantasy sports recently like Michigan and New York. With mounting pressure on regulators, lawmakers and even attorneys general to look at what kinds of fantasy games are often in the state, particularly fantasy vs. the house, the new product can future-proof the operator to some extent if 2024 brings forth the kind of change 2023 brought to the industry.
