gamble on sports or play fantasy sports, with nearly 60% participating in both, according to the Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association. He launched a mobile-focused fantasy site, Draft, which was bought for $48 million in 2017 by Paddy Power Betfair, now known as Flutter Entertainment PLC, the owner of FanDuel. He sold the assets of StarStreet, an early fantasy site, to DraftKings in 2014. Levine has previously founded two fantasy-sports companies.

In sports betting, the company will offer traditional sports wagering and build new offerings in areas like betting during live games, Mr. Underdog’s games include “best ball,' a fantasy game in which players don’t have to manage their lineups week-to-week after the initial draft. The fantasy sites and major casino operators have been competing for market share as new states legalize sports betting, spending hundreds of millions on advertising and promotions to acquire new customers. and FanDuel both started in fantasy sports before entering the new online sports-betting market in 2018. “We like to think of ourselves as a gaming studio in a licensed betting environment.'ĭraftKings Inc. “The rest of the companies, they’re sportsbook companies, that’s how they view themselves,' Mr. The company declined to release how many customers it has. The company’s founder, Jeremy Levine, said Underdog has grown its customer base by developing games different from those offered by major companies in the market today. The company plans to launch licensed sports-betting operations in Ohio and Colorado next year. Underdog says it intends on expanding from fantasy-sports contests into sports wagering, which has rapidly grown into a more than $4 billion industry in the U.S.

Underdog said it raised $35 million in a B round including BlackRock and Acies Investment, the latter a venture-capital firm focused on sports betting and online gambling.

Fantasy sports betting industry