Underdog cuts 125 jobs amid an increasingly competitive market

• Underdog has cut 125 jobs, as it reduces costs further and continues to expand in prediction markets
• The operator has taken out the majority of its fraud department jobs, with the cuts affecting more than 20% of its overall workforce
• In the meantime, Underdog remains committed and dedicated to growing its footprint in the prediction market space

Underdog, one of the most popular daily fantasy sports platforms in the United States, as well as a recent entrant in the prediction market vertical, has announced sweeping cuts across its workforce.

The company, which numbers between 201 and 500 employees, based on its LinkedIn profile, has engaged in cost-cutting, which has affected 125 jobs, with the majority of its fraud department laid off.

Underdog is effectively cutting more than 20% of its current workforce, with company CEO and Founder Jeremy Levine offering his thoughts on the move, and confirming what was previously only rumors.

"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," Levine explained.

Apart from the fraud department, the company has similarly enacted job trimming through its marketing and customer support departments, along with its graphics and daily, season-long draft departments.

This news arrives amid a rapidly expanding prediction market vertical, which has nevertheless been faced with strong opposition from states, regulators, attorneys general, and legislators.

A recently launched trade group, Gambling Is Not Investing, has sought to outright suspend the activity, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has been forging a new regulatory framework to allow sports event contracts and other markets to continue to be operated as a financial product.

Underdog teamed up with Crypto.com in September to offer sports contracts itself, seeking to further expand its presence in what it has largely seen as a promising vertical.

Underdog has been willing to surrender traditional sports betting licenses in a bid to strengthen its prediction market presence, which it did in December last year when it withdrew from North Carolina. The company had done something similar in Missouri in November.

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