Underdog’s prediction markets pivot leads to at least 125 redundancies

  • UM News
  • Posted 21 hours ago
00:00 / 00:00

Underdog has issued at least 125 redundancies, citing last year’s pivot to prediction markets as the rationale behind the restructuring.

Former Underdog employees began posting on LinkedIn on Friday, 27 February, that they had been impacted by the decision.

Front Office Sports (FOS) has since reported at least 125 employees have been affected.

It is understood the restructure has impacted multiple departments, including the fraud operations team, compliance, product development, HR, trading and editorial. 

Customer support, graphics, marketing and drafts – the division focused on Underdog’s daily and season-long draft-based DFS games – were also affected.

Underdog is reported to have between 500 and 600 employees. FOS suggested the restructure has seen total headcount cut by 20%

Just under a year ago, Underdog was valued at over $1.2bn following a Series C funding round, which the operator said would allow it to hire “top-tier talent”.

In 2024, Underdog expanded from its DFS base into online sports betting, launching in North Carolina as US state went live with regulated sports betting in March of that year.

However, Underdog partnered with Crypto.com in September 2025 to roll out sports event contracts in an initial 16 states.

Underdog’s presence in the US

Underdog’s prediction markets offering is now live in 32 US jurisdictions, including California, Texas and Georgia, where sports betting remains illegal.

The product is also available in Alaska, Utah and Hawaii, as well as Florida, where the Seminole Tribe hold a sports betting monopoly with the Hard Rock Bet brand.

Underdog became one of the first partners to join forces with Crypto.com to offer prediction markets. The likes of Fanatics, MyPrize, High Roller and DraftKings have all since partnered with the Singapore-based business.

Following the pivot, Underdog pulled sports betting from North Carolina on 17 December while remaining in the state with its DFS offering.

The operator was also one of the brands that had secured market access for the Missouri sports betting market, which went live on 1 December. However, it pulled out of Missouri before the state even went live.

State-level regulators have taken a stand against prediction markets, which claim to be regulated at the federal level. 

Underdog CEO Jeremy Levine said that following the shift in the company’s focus, personnel changes were “part of that transition”.

He remarked: “We transitioned our business this year. We went from a focus on a state-by-state framework to a national prediction markets platform with seamless offerings across the country.

“It’s simply a different operation, and the changes we made are a part of that transition.

“We take pride in hiring people who are passionate, good human beings who really care about their work, so if you’re hiring and come across an ex-Underdog person, you’d be lucky to have them, and call me for a reference.”

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The post Underdog’s prediction markets pivot leads to at least 125 redundancies first appeared on EGR Intel.

 Unicorn reduces headcount across multiple departments, including customer support and fraud operations, following switch to sports event contracts
The post Underdog’s prediction markets pivot leads to at least 125 redundancies first appeared on EGR Intel. 

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