DraftKings vs Underdog: One Kept Its Book, One Closed It

DraftKings vs Underdog: A Book That Stayed, a Book That Closed

DraftKings vs Underdog looks like two sportsbooks until you check the calendar. DraftKings Sportsbook is still expanding — 27 states plus D.C. as of August 2026. Underdog ran a real-money sportsbook too, then shut it down nationwide in December 2025 and went back to being a pick’em DFS app, plus a brand-new CFTC-licensed prediction exchange. Same category of question, opposite trajectory.

Line up DraftKings and Underdog on a timeline and the comparison stops being "which sportsbook is better" and becomes "which one still has a sportsbook." DraftKings launched its book years ago and has spent 2026 adding states — Arkansas came online March 20, 2026, bringing the count to 27 plus D.C. Underdog built a real-money sportsbook too, then shut the whole thing down nationwide in December 2025. That single fact should decide who reads this page and why.

The Sportsbook That Stayed

DraftKings is a Nasdaq-listed company (DKNG) founded in 2012, and its sportsbook is licensed state by state — not offshore, not a workaround. As of August 2026 that means spreads, moneylines, and props in 27 states plus Washington D.C., with a separate five-state casino product (Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia) and an even wider DFS arm underneath the same corporate roof. It is not live in California, Texas, or Florida, and no amount of brand recognition changes that.

The Sportsbook That Closed

Underdog took the opposite path. It entered daily fantasy in 2020 as a pick’em app, added a licensed real-money sportsbook at some point after, and then closed that sportsbook nationwide in December 2025 — settling every wager still open in North Carolina rather than keep expanding the book into more states. That is a company retreating from a product category DraftKings is still investing in, which makes "DraftKings vs Underdog sportsbook" a question with a one-word answer: DraftKings.

DraftKings vs Underdog, side by side

	DraftKings	Underdog
Sportsbook status	Live and expanding — 27 states + D.C. as of Aug 2026	Closed nationwide, December 2025
Core product today	Sportsbook, casino (5 states), separate DFS app	Pick’em DFS (Classic + Champions), plus Underdog Predict
Prediction market	None	Underdog Predict — CFTC-licensed exchange, launched July 2026
Biggest regulatory event	State-by-state sportsbook licensing, ongoing	$17.5 million New York settlement, March 2025, over 2020–2022 contests
State footprint	Sportsbook: not CA, TX, FL. Casino: CT, MI, NJ, PA, WV only	Classic Pick’em in ~15 states; blocked in CT, HI, ID, IA, LA, ME, MT, NV, WA
Company	Public, Nasdaq: DKNG	Private, founded 2020 in Brooklyn

Is Underdog Still Legit Without a Sportsbook?

Yes, though it is a smaller company doing a narrower job than it was in 2025. Underdog still pays out through PayPal, Venmo, and Trustly, still runs two distinct pick’em products, and used its own federal registrations — Designated Contract Market, Derivatives Clearing Organization, Futures Commission Merchant — to open Underdog Predict in July 2026 rather than simply disappear from the sportsbook conversation. Closing a product it could not scale the way it wanted is a business decision, not evidence the company stopped paying people.

If you came here looking for "Underdog Sportsbook" in your state, it does not exist anymore. DraftKings Sportsbook is the one of these two brands that still takes that kind of bet — and only in the states where it is actually licensed.

Which One for Who

You want a spread or a parlay against a book, and you live in a licensed sportsbook state: DraftKings, full stop — Underdog is not an alternative for that anymore. You want pick’em contests against player projections, not a house line: Underdog, checking first whether Classic Pick’em or Pick’em Champions is the one actually live in your state. Curious about a federally regulated prediction-market product instead of either: that is Underdog Predict, a third thing entirely, closer in structure to Kalshi than to either brand's original pitch.

Neither company is presented here as a way to make money, and a deposit into either one should be treated as entertainment spend. 21+ for DraftKings Sportsbook where it operates; 18+ or the higher state-set age for Underdog's DFS products.

DraftKings vs Underdog — Frequently Asked Questions

Is Underdog still a sportsbook like DraftKings?

No. Underdog ran a licensed real-money sportsbook for a stretch, then closed it nationwide in December 2025, settling every open North Carolina wager rather than pursue more state licenses. DraftKings Sportsbook is still live and still adding states — Arkansas joined in March 2026. If an older page told you Underdog and DraftKings were two competing sportsbooks, that comparison is out of date.

Why did Underdog close its sportsbook but DraftKings kept expanding?

They started from different positions. DraftKings has been a licensed sportsbook operator since well before Underdog entered the category, with the balance sheet and state relationships to keep chasing licenses. Underdog is fundamentally a DFS company that added a sportsbook and then walked it back in December 2025, redirecting that regulatory effort into Underdog Predict, a CFTC-licensed prediction-market exchange, instead.

Is DraftKings legal where Underdog is not, or the reverse?

The maps do not match, and they measure different products. DraftKings Sportsbook is dark in California, Texas, and Florida. Underdog's Classic Pick'em runs under the DFS exemption in roughly 15 states and is blocked outright in Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nevada, and Washington — a different list for a different kind of product. A state missing from one brand's list says nothing about the other.

Is Underdog legit if it closed a sportsbook and paid a $17.5 million fine?

Closing a product on your own terms is not the same as regulators shutting you down. Underdog settled every open North Carolina wager before closing the book, and separately paid the New York State Gaming Commission $17.5 million in March 2025 over 2020–2022 contests that exceeded its old permit — then kept operating everywhere else and launched a new federally licensed exchange in July 2026. DraftKings has never had a comparable settlement of that size, but it is also a decade further into being licensed as a sportsbook specifically.

Which one should I use?

Want a moneyline, spread, or parlay against a book, and you live in a state where DraftKings Sportsbook is licensed: DraftKings. Want pick’em-style DFS contests, or you are curious about the new CFTC-regulated Predict exchange: Underdog. If you were hoping to use Underdog as a sportsbook, that product no longer exists — DraftKings is the one still standing in that specific category.