General Manager - Games

Fliff launches Peer to peer DFS Superstars California: social gaming platform expands west coast presence. Fliff has entered the real-money daily fantasy sports market with a new product called Fliff Superstars. The company, previously known for its sweepstakes sportsbook, made this move as state regulators increase their focus on sweepstakes gaming and fantasy sports across the country. The new platform lets you pick two or more athletes and predict whether they will go over or under specific statistical projections. You can join Max Play or Flex Play contests that feature guaranteed prize pools, with your winnings based on how your lineup ranks against other players. Unlike traditional sweepstakes models, Superstars works as a peer-to-peer system where you compete against other users in pooled contests rather than playing directly against the company. Why peer-to-peer matters in California's legal landscape. Daily fantasy sports operators in California have been changing how their platforms work. Most companies have stopped offering games where you play against the house. Instead, they now focus on contests where you compete against other players. This shift happened after California Attorney General Rob Bonta released a legal opinion in 2025. His office stated that daily fantasy sports contests count as illegal wagering under state law. The opinion covered all types of fantasy contests, whether peer-to-peer or house-banked. The peer-to-peer format changes the structure of your gameplay. When you enter these contests, your entry fees go into a prize pool shared with other participants. No operator takes the other side of your picks. Companies like Underdog and PrizePicks believe this approach carries less regulatory risk. They argue that removing the house from the competition changes how California gambling laws apply to their products. The Attorney General's office has not formally recognized any difference between contest formats. However, operators continue to favor peer-to-peer models as a way to keep offering services in California's uncertain legal environment. Legal actions add to DFS market instability. California's DFS market now faces serious legal challenges that make its future unclear. Since June 2025, more than 10 class-action lawsuits have targeted major platforms like FanDuel, DraftKings, Underdog, and PrizePicks. The lawsuits claim these platforms broke state gambling laws. They also say the companies misled users about whether their contests were legal. Many of the complaints point to the Attorney General's opinion as proof that DFS operations violated California law from the start. Some cases have been dismissed or paused. Others remain active in court. This creates an ongoing legal situation that makes it hard for operators to plan ahead or feel secure about their business models. When you look at new DFS products entering California, like Fliff Superstars, they're launching into a market already dealing with these legal problems. Even peer-to-peer formats aren't fully protected from potential legal action. Strategic timing as sweepstakes exit takes effect. Fliff launched its new DFS product at a critical moment. The company introduced this real-money offering on the exact day California's sweepstakes gaming ban went into effect. This timing was not accidental. The ban removed Fliff's ability to operate its social sportsbook model in what had been one of its biggest markets. By switching to a peer-to-peer DFS format, Fliff found a way to keep serving California users with real-money contests. * Ban effective date: January 1, 2026 * DFS product launch: January 1, 2026 * Format change: Sweepstakes to peer-to-peer contests The move mirrors what other operators have done in California. While the attorney general has raised concerns about peer-to-peer DFS, multiple companies continue offering this format to California players. Diverging strategies in a contracting U.S. Market. Sweepstakes operators are adopting different approaches to survive as the U.S. market continues to shrink. Each company is choosing its own path to stay competitive and legally compliant. Some operators are expanding into social gaming. Others are looking at adjacent verticals like prediction markets, which face their own legal challenges. Fliff has chosen to stay focused on sports gaming by launching its peer-to-peer DFS product. The company's Superstars platform serves two purposes: * It expands Fliff's product offerings beyond sweepstakes * It provides a defensive position in markets with increasing legal pressure This dual-purpose strategy places Fliff alongside other operators who believe peer-to-peer DFS can survive legal scrutiny. The model faces questions in California and other states, but companies continue to invest in it. | Strategy | Example Operators | Focus Area | | Social gaming expansion | VGW | Casino-style games | | Adjacent verticals | MyPrize | Prediction markets | | Peer-to-peer DFS | Fliff, Underdog, PrizePicks | Sports contests | The launch of Superstars shows how operators must balance growth with risk management. California represents the largest player market in the country, which makes it too valuable to abandon. Yet the state's attorney general has declared both traditional DFS and peer-to-peer formats potentially illegal. Operators are betting that peer-to-peer contests will prove more defensible than pick'em formats. Whether this bet pays off remains uncertain as legal challenges continue to mount across multiple states.

Fliff launches peer-to-peer DFS product "Superstars" Amid California pressure. Sweepstakes sportsbook Fliff has launched a new daily fantasy sports (DFS) product, Fliff Superstars, marking its formal entry into real-money fantasy contests as regulatory pressure mounts on sweepstakes gaming - and DFS - across the U.S. Credit: Fliff The product adopts a familiar DFS interface. It allows users to select two or more athletes and choose over/under statistical projections. The payouts are determined by multipliers tied to lineup performance. Users can participate in either "Max Play" or "Flex Play" contests. There are guaranteed prize pools distributed based on the relative contest rankings. The gameplay resembles the popular pick 'em-style DFS, but according to the platform's official rules, Fliff Superstars is a peer-to-peer DFS contest. Players compete against one another within pooled contests, rather than against Fliff as the counterparty. In Superstars, winnings come from the prize pool rather than house-banked wagers. That structural distinction is particularly critical in California, where DFS has faced sustained legal and regulatory scrutiny. Why peer-to-peer matters in California's legal landscape. Fliff's DFS launch comes as operators across California have moved away from traditional house-banked pick 'em formats toward peer-to-peer contest structures. The changes were the result of a 2025 legal opinion from California Attorney General Rob Bonta. In that opinion, Bonta concluded that DFS contests constitute illegal wagering under California law. He added that whether it's peer-to-peer or against the house, all DFS is unlawful. Although the opinion does not alter the law, it has led operators to adjust their strategies. Platforms like Underdog and PrizePicks have argued that removing the house as a participant reduces regulatory risk under California's gambling statutes, despite the Attorney General's Office declining to formally distinguish between DFS formats. Fliff Superstars fits squarely within that trend: a DFS product that appears to be a pick 'em at the user level, but is a contest among players rather than bets against the house. DFS lawsuits compound regulatory uncertainty. A growing wave of DFS-related litigation in California has added to the regulatory uncertainty. Since June 2025, over 10 class-action lawsuits have been filed against major operators, including FanDuel, DraftKings, Underdog, and PrizePicks. They allege that DFS contests violated state gambling laws and misrepresented their legality to consumers. The complaints repeatedly cite Bonta's legal opinion as evidence that DFS has been unlawful in the state for a long time. While some cases have been dismissed or put on hold, others continue to be active. That creates an unresolved legal environment that has pushed operators to reassess both product structure and risk exposure. Against that backdrop, any new DFS product launched in California - including Fliff Superstars - enters a market that already faces legal challenges, even when structured as a peer-to-peer model. Strategic timing as sweepstakes exit takes effect. However, even if it faces legal challenges, Fliff's move into DFS allows it to offer a real-money product in California. The state banned sweepstakes gaming, effective January 1. The ban effectively eliminated the company's largest market for its core social sportsbook product. Launching a peer-to-peer DFS offering allows Fliff to continue engaging California users through a format that, while controversial, remains widely offered by other operators despite the attorney general's opinion and ongoing lawsuits. Diverging strategies in a contracting U.S. Market. Fliff's Superstars launch highlights how sweepstakes operators are pursuing different survival strategies amid the shrinking U.S. market. While some companies, such as VGW, are expanding their social gaming portfolios, others, including MyPrize, have sought exposure to adjacent verticals like the increasingly scrutinized prediction markets. Fliff's approach, by contrast, keeps the company anchored in sports gaming through a peer-to-peer DFS model. For now, Fliff Superstars represents both a product expansion and a risk-management move. It places the company among a growing group of operators betting that peer-to-peer DFS remains viable - or at least defensible - in the nation's most populous and legally contested gaming market. Follow Gambling Insider for independent news, analysis and industry expertise. Chavdar Vasilev is the Global Wire Editor at Gambling Insider, overseeing first-day coverage of breaking developments across the global gambling industry. His work focuses on regulation, enforcement actions, earnings, market activity, and emerging sectors, including prediction markets and sweepstakes casinos. Previously, Vasilev reported for publications including CasinoBeats and Bonus.com, covering industry-shaping stories across the U.S. and beyond, from legislative debates and market expansion to financial performance and operator strategy. Gambling Insider delivers the latest industry news, in-depth features, and operator reviews that you can trust. Our team combines rigorous editorial standards with decades of specialized expertise to ensure accuracy and fairness. We are committed to delivering clear, impartial, and dependable coverage across the global gambling sector.

On the sportsbook side, Fliff has steadily grown in popularity after raising $15 million two years ago in Series B funding.