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Underdog debuts prediction market on in-house exchange. Posted on: July 18, 2026, 01:48h. Last updated on: July 18, 2026, 01:48h. Key points. * Underdog joins internal exchange party in prediction market industry * The company was the first sports gaming firm in the U.S. to provide prediction market access * It previously routed event contract trades through other exchanges Underdog, the sports gaming company that disrupted daily fantasy sports (DFS), today launched a wholly-owned prediction market exchange, meaning the company can control more of the economics related to the trading of event contracts. The announcement arrives about four months after the gaming operator announced the acquisitions of Aristotle Exchange DCM, Inc. and Aristotle Exchange DCO - moves that paved the way for Underdog to feature federally regulated prediction markets. The Aristotle entities were a Designated Contract Market (DCM) and a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). CFTC regulation is essential for companies like Underdog because that entity oversees prediction markets in this country. Vertical integration all the rage in prediction markets. Last September, Underdog launched its prediction market through a partnership with Crypto.com, becoming the first regulated DFS or sportsbook operator to join the prediction market party. In the following months, the company inked other deals with yes/no exchanges. That model has been employed by other gaming and financial services companies in the prediction market space, but it's one that could go by the wayside as more operators see value in vertical integration. That movement is already afoot. As just one example, prior to the Underdog news, DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) launched its DKeX exchange, giving it greater economic control over transactions on DraftKings Predictions. In addition to possessing the DCM and DCO permits, privately held Underdog "is also a registered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), making it the first sports company with the complete prediction market license stack." "Now with our own exchange, we're going to unlock so much for more sports fans. Prediction markets are largely about sports, and Underdog is the best at sports," said CEO and co-founder Jeremy Levine in the statement. Underdog already a prediction market force. Given its expertise and history, Underdog makes for a logical purveyor of sports event contracts and other yes/no derivatives. Perhaps surprising some industry observers, the company is quietly cobbling enviable positioning in the space. Since last September, Underdog's notional prediction market volume is nearly $6.5 billion, good for third among U.S. operators and putting the company ahead of some well-known rivals. Underdog's prediction market is not available in 13 U.S. jurisdictions, including Nevada and Washington, D.C. Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at [email protected].

Sweeps and Fantasy Sports companies continue to pivot to prediction markets. Updated on June 23, 2026 Prediction Market Analyst Rebet, a social sportsbook and sweepstakes casino, and Realtime Fantasy Sports, a 31-year-old fantasy sports platform, both submitted applications to register as Futures Commission Merchants with the National Futures Association on June 11, the latest in a steadily growing list of non-traditional operators seeking a foothold in the federally regulated prediction market space. The applications are unlikely to generate headlines on their own as neither company is a major player in the conventional sense. But the pattern they represent is becoming a trend worth tracking. PrizePicks became the first sports entertainment operator to receive FCM registration from the NFA in September 2025, and since then, the queue has grown steadily. DraftKings, Fanatics Betting and Gaming, and Underdog all had NFA applications in process by late 2025. Underdog received full FCM approval in January 2026 and has since launched sports event contracts in 29 U.S. jurisdictions. ProphetX and Novig were both approved as designated contract markets within the past two weeks, less than six months after their applications first appeared on the CFTC portal. The pace of applications has accelerated alongside, and in some cases because of, the regulatory and legal turbulence surrounding the established prediction market platforms. The difference: DCM vs. FCM registration. The distinction between a Futures Commission Merchant and a Designated Contract Market matters for understanding what these companies are actually seeking. A DCM operates as an exchange, making markets that others trade on. Kalshi, Polymarket US, and CME Group are DCMs. An FCM cannot make markets but can offer its users access to contracts traded on a registered DCM, much like FanDuel Predicts, PrizePicks, and Coinbase function as distribution channels for Kalshi or Polymarket's underlying contracts. For a sweepstakes casino like Rebet or a legacy fantasy sports platform like Realtime, the FCM path is the lower-friction entry point. They do not need to build exchange infrastructure or obtain a DCM designation. They need to pass NFA's membership review, partner with an existing DCM, and integrate that DCM's contracts into their existing product. The regulatory lift is meaningful but considerably smaller than building a full exchange from scratch. The commercial logic is just as easy as plug-and-play. Both sweepstakes casinos and daily fantasy sports platforms have spent years building user bases that are comfortable with real-money competition, familiar with probabilistic thinking, and accustomed to interfaces that resemble sports betting without technically being licensed as such. That audience maps directly onto prediction market users. Underdog, for example, initially launched prediction market contracts through a technology partnership with Crypto.com and has since moved into 29 jurisdictions, giving up its Missouri sports betting license shortly before that market launched rather than competing on both fronts simultaneously. The signal there is clear: for some operators, prediction markets are not an add-on to a sportsbook strategy. They are simply replacing it. Prediction Market pivots aren't just for crypto-native startups anymore. The attraction for operators isn't limited to product fit alone. It is also regulatory arbitrage. Sweepstakes casinos have operated in a legally ambiguous space for years, arguing that virtual chips are promotional currency rather than real money wagers. Daily fantasy sports companies made an analogous argument a decade ago, when they classified their contests as games of skill exempt from UIGEA. Prediction markets offer a third version of the same move: event contracts are federally regulated financial instruments, not state-licensed gambling products, which means an operator can reach users in states where online sports betting is not legal, or where their existing license does not extend. That window is not guaranteed to stay open as the front lines of litigation have been active. The CFTC's proposed rulemaking on event contracts would bar certain categories of sports contracts, particularly microbets and college sports markets. The Sixth Circuit oral arguments scheduled for July 30 could significantly narrow the jurisdictional picture. The New Jersey, Kentucky, and Michigan litigation threads all represent states actively testing the limits of the preemption argument. And Flip Pidot of Sharp Square Capital, himself a prominent prediction market advocate and a recent NFA applicant, acknowledged publicly that the regulatory environment resembles a party that the authorities might eventually ask to quiet down. What operators filing NFA applications right now appear to be calculating is that the window is still open enough to be worth entering, and that a foothold established during the current regulatory moment is easier to defend than one built from scratch after the rules tighten. Whether that calculus proves correct will depend substantially on what the Sixth Circuit and the CFTC rulemaking process produce over the next several months. For now, the queue at the NFA keeps growing. Each new applicant is a data point in the same direction: the prediction market pivot is no longer a strategy exclusive to crypto-native startups and established financial exchanges. It has become the default hedge for any gaming-adjacent operator trying to figure out where the puck is going. Prediction Market Analyst Colin Lynch is a sports betting, iGaming, and prediction markets journalist covering the intersection of sports, wagering, and regulation across the global gambling industry. Colin Lynch is a veteran gambling industry journalist with more than a decade of experience covering the rapidly evolving sports betting... Players trust its reporting due to its commitment to unbiased and professional evaluations of the iGaming sector. Gaming America track hundreds of platforms and industry updates daily to ensure its news feed and leaderboards reflect the most recent market shifts. With nearly two decades of experience within iGaming, its team provides a wealth of expert knowledge. This long-standing expertise enables Gaming America to deliver thorough, reliable news and guidance to its readers.

Underdog to expand prediction markets with new in-house offering. 10th March 2026 10:34 am Underdog is set to expand its prediction markets offering under its own exchange after acquiring Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registered Aristotle Exchange. The fantasy sports operator has purchased Aristotle Exchange DCM and Aristotle Exchange DCO, which are a CFTC registered Designated Contract Market (DCM) and a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), respectively. The acquisition enables Underdog to offer its own prediction market exchange, having launched sports prediction markets in its app last September through a partnership with Crypto.com. "We look forward to working with the CFTC to offer an exchange that brings even more options to enjoy sports to our customers," said Jeremy Levine, CEO and co-founder of Underdog. "We're in the early innings of what prediction markets can be, especially for sports fans. "We'll use this opportunity to bring the same relentless focus on innovation and experience that we've always brought to our customers. The reality is, prediction markets are primarily about sports and no company knows how to engage with sports fans and create products for sports fans better than Underdog." Underdog has pivoted to prediction markets after withdrawing its licence application ahead of Missouri's market opening in December, which was followed by its exit from North Carolina's sports betting market. Underdog is acquiring the two business from Aristotle Inc., which specialises in data mining voter data and also operates the PredictIt prediction markets platform on behalf of Victoria University of Wellington. The details of the transaction have not been disclosed.