Underdog Sports โExpands into prediction Markets โขwiht Crypto.com Partnership
NEW YORK – Daily fantasy sports and sports betting โขoperator Underdog is making a critically important moveโค into the burgeoning prediction โmarket space, announcing a partnershipโฃ with cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com. The deal,โฃ revealed โtoday, will leverageโ Crypto.com’s infrastructure to facilitate Underdog’s new โขpredictionโฃ market offerings, initially focused on non-political events.
The move signals Underdog’s confidence in the future of prediction markets, particularly withinโข the sports realm.”While still new and evolving, โขone thing is clear – the future of prediction marketsโ is going to be about sports – โคand no one does sports better than โฃUnderdog,” said Underdog CEOโ Jeremyโ Levine.
Prediction โคmarkets allow users to wager on the outcome of future events,โฃ differing from traditional sports betting in that customers betโ against each other rather than against a house. Though, the rise โof these “event contracts” – particularly those focused on โsports โ- has drawn scrutiny from regulators, with opponents arguing they effectively function as โฃsports betting.
Other prediction market platforms have facedโค legal challenges.โค Kalshi, registered with the Commodity Futuresโ Trading Commissionโ (CFTC), has received cease-and-desist ordersโค from at least seven state regulators sence launching its sports โคofferings earlier this year, prompting lawsuits inโ New Jersey,โฃ Nevada, and Maryland.Polymarket, another โplatform, is preparing to reenter the U.S. market after โa โ2022 settlement withโข the Biden Administration prohibited its operation within the country.
Notably, โboth Kalshi andโฃ Polymarket have garnered โคsupport from donald Trump โJr., who serves as a strategicโค advisor to โฃkalshi and recently joined โPolymarket’s advisory board followingโ an investment from his venture capital firm, 1789 Capital.majorโค sports leagues and traditional sportsbooks are closely monitoring the growth of prediction markets. The NFL has expressed โsimilarโ integrity and compliance concerns as it does with traditional sports betting, while FanDuel recently announced aโฃ partnership with CME Group to enter the prediction market space -โฃ though initially excluding sports offerings.
Underdog currently operates as a licensedโค sportsโข betting operator inโ North โCarolina and plans to โคexpand into Missouri following โthe recentโฃ legalization of sports betting in โthe state. The company โฃis best known for its daily fantasy sports platform.