Underdog launched its own prediction market exchange on July 18, moving from partner to owner in a fast-evolving corner of U.S. gaming. The new product sits inside the existing Underdog app and, according to Casino.org, lets customers trade opinions on sports, culture and beyond.
The exchange is wholly owned and operated by Underdog and is licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Casino.org said the company is also a registered Futures Commission Merchant, a combination the outlet described as giving it the complete prediction-market licence stack. The announcement came about four months after Underdog said it had bought Aristotle Exchange DCM, Inc. and Aristotle Exchange DCO, both CFTC-regulated entities.
That acquisition followed a period in which Underdog was still relying on partners. Last September it teamed with Crypto.com, putting those markets on its fantasy-sports and pick’em app, and Sports Betting Dime said that made Underdog the first sports gaming operator to offer prediction-market access on its app through a CFTC-registered exchange. Before the new launch, the company had been hosting markets as a partner to other exchanges, including Crypto.com and Kalshi.
The move also fits a broader shift in the industry toward vertical integration. Casino.org cited DraftKings’ DKeX exchange as another sign that operators are trying to gain more control over the economics of event-contract trading.
Gaming America framed Underdog’s step as a pivot away from a conventional online sports-betting push. It said the company had been operating only in North Carolina while seeking a Missouri licence, and that entering prediction markets let it move into a new vertical without going head-to-head with the sports-betting giants that jointly control around 80% of the market.
The launch is heavily sports-focused. Gaming America said the word “sports” appeared 13 times in Underdog’s four-paragraph release, and Jeremy Levine said, “Prediction markets are largely about sports, and Underdog is the best at sports.”
For now, the rollout is selective. Underdog launched in 38 states, compared with Kalshi’s advertised availability in all 50, and the product appears to be limited to sports or sports-adjacent contracts. It is not available in 13 jurisdictions, including Nevada and Washington, D.C.
The state-by-state map also shows how uneven the legal backdrop remains. Gaming America said Underdog is offering prediction markets in Minnesota, which has outright banned them, and Washington, where regulators have litigated aggressively against the products. It also noted that Arizona has filed criminal charges against Kalshi and that Michigan won a court order requiring Kalshi to geofence the state, although the CFTC is trying to stop that order.
Underdog’s current scale is already material. Casino.org said its notional prediction-market volume since last September was nearly $6.5 billion, third among U.S. operators. Sports Betting Dime said Levine’s CNBC numbers put Underdog behind Kalshi and Robinhood on total notional volume since the fall, but ahead of Polymarket, DraftKings and FanDuel.
