Another leading daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator has shifted its footing in California as the status of the gaming vertical in the state remains under a harsh spotlight.
Underdog Sports made its California fantasy offerings peer-to-peer only as of Wednesday afternoon. The against-the-house version of Underdog’s pick’em game is no longer available but users can play the Champions version of pick’em, which is peer-to-peer.
Against-the-house pick’em-style DFS has been the version of the product that has received the most scrutiny from legislators and regulators for its resemblance to sports betting player props. In several states, operators like Underdog and PrizePicks have reached agreements with regulators to offer peer-to-peer products but pull against-the-house options.
However, the recent California Attorney General opinion on the legality of fantasy only mentioned peer-to-peer vs. against the house fantasy as a footnote and seemed to draw no distinction between the two.
Turn and face the strain, ch-ch-changes
As of Wednesday afternoon, Underdog’s website shows that Pick’Em is unavailable in California, while Champions and draft contests are online in the state.
Underdog Sports and other fantasy operators including PrizePicks have previously re-entered other states, notably Florida last year, with its P2P games after being ordered to shut down their against-the-house style of contest.
Underdog’s changeup comes two weeks after PrizePicks shut down its own pick’em contests in California and switched to its P2P version, Arena.
“We brought the peer-to-peer Pick’em game type to the industry, and have now launched our Champions game in 20 states. We expect California fans will love playing, which is what we have seen in every other state,” an Underdog spokesperson told SBC Americas.
Court tells Underdog to sit
On July 2, the same day that PrizePicks made its switch, a Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento judge rejected Underdog Sports’ attempts to prevent California Attorney General Rob Bonta from issuing his opinion on the legality of DFS.
Once Underdog got wind of what was said to be a negative opinion, the company filed suit to request that a judge intervene and prevent Bonta’s office from releasing the opinion.
Judge Jennifer Rockwell denied Underdog’s motion for a temporary restraining order against Bonta’s office, arguing that the company had “ample opportunity” in the more than 18 months since Bonta began his investigation into DFS to challenge the AG’s right to issue an opinion. The court also emphasized that Bonta’s opinion would not change the law, and so Underdog was considered not to have sufficiently proven it would suffer harm from Bonta’s opinion.
California deemin’
The following day, Bonta’s office published the negative opinion on DFS, which asserted that all paid daily fantasy sports games including pick’em, peer-to-peer and draft-style games is in violation of the law.
Underdog told SBC Americas at the time of the court verdict that it was confident that fantasy sports would prevail even in the event of a negative opinion, pointing to the fact courts in New York and Illinois previously rejected those states’ respective attorneys general. The company added that it “look[ed] forward to continuing to offer our fantasy contests in California.”
Underdog and other operators such as PrizePicks and DraftKings have indicated they have no immediate plans to exit the state in the wake of the opinion.
