Is Underdog Safe? Yes — But 5 States Are Suing It

Is Underdog Safe?

Is Underdog safe? For your account and your money, yes — SSL encryption, two-factor login, and identity verification are standard. For the product itself, "safe" got more complicated in September 2026, when Underdog pulled its Drafts contests from seven states and then sued five states outright over its prediction-market business.

Is Underdog safe? Split the question in two and the answers aren’t the same. Your account and your deposit: yes, standard real-money-app security. The product itself: safe today doesn’t mean guaranteed tomorrow, because September 2026 turned into the messiest month yet for what Underdog is legally allowed to offer and where.

Account Security: SSL, 2FA, and ID Checks

On the parts a security-minded reader usually asks about, Underdog does what a real-money platform is supposed to do. Account data runs over SSL encryption. The app supports two-factor authentication and biometric login (Face ID / fingerprint) so a stolen password alone isn’t enough to drain an account. Opening an account requires a mailing address, date of birth, and Social Security number, which Underdog uses to verify identity and age — not optional, and not unusual, since every regulated fantasy or prediction platform in the US runs the same kind of KYC check.

Geolocation matters here. Underdog checks a device’s physical location every session, not just at signup, because eligibility is state-by-state and sometimes product-by-product. A phone that crosses a state line mid-session can lose access until it’s back inside an approved state.

The Fight That Actually Threatens Availability

The real safety story in 2026 isn’t encryption — it’s regulatory whiplash. Underdog launched Predict, its CFTC-licensed prediction-market exchange, in July 2026. By late summer, several states had told Underdog it couldn’t run both a state-licensed fantasy product and federally regulated sports event contracts in the same market without picking a side. Underdog picked prediction markets.

On September 5, 2026, founder and CEO Jeremy Levine announced on X that Underdog was pulling its Drafts contests — the Best Ball product, not Pick’em — from Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The product stopped accepting new entries with the 2026 NFL season opener on September 9; entries already in progress were honored. Levine said he was optimistic about finding a way back into those markets but wasn’t committing to a timeline.

Three days after that, on September 8, 2026, Underdog went on offense: it sued Ohio, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Washington, arguing its sports event contracts are exclusively CFTC jurisdiction — federally regulated derivatives, not state-licensed gambling — and that those states have no authority to enforce gambling law against the product. That is an open lawsuit in five courts, not a resolved question, and the outcome could reshape what Underdog can legally offer in any of those states next.

Drafts dropped (voluntary, Sept. 9, 2026): Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania.

States Underdog is suing (filed Sept. 8, 2026): Ohio, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Washington.

Fully blocked (unrelated, ongoing): Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Washington.

What This Means If You’re in One of Those States

If you’re in Ohio, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Mexico, or Washington, Underdog is telling a court it has the right to keep operating its prediction contracts there, while a state regulator is telling it the opposite. Neither side has won yet. That’s a reasonable moment to not stack a large balance in a product whose legal footing in your state is actively being argued in front of a judge — not because Underdog is hiding anything, but because a court loss can change availability fast, the way it already did for Drafts in seven other states this September.

Is Underdog Safe Overall?

Yes for the parts inside Underdog’s control: encryption, two-factor login, identity verification, geolocation. No guarantee on the parts outside its control: which products a given state lets it offer, and whether that answer holds past the next court date. This is not a way to make money, and a player weighing how much to deposit should weigh the second kind of risk as seriously as the first. Confirm your state’s current product availability directly in the app before funding an account, and use Underdog’s deposit limits and self-exclusion tools if play stops feeling recreational.

Is Underdog Fantasy safe? — Frequently Asked Questions

Is Underdog safe?

For account security, yes: Underdog uses SSL encryption, offers two-factor authentication and biometric login on its app, and verifies identity, age, and a Social Security number before releasing funds. The open question isn’t account safety — it’s regulatory stability, since Underdog is actively suing five states over whether its prediction-market contracts count as gambling.

Why is Underdog suing five states?

On September 8, 2026, Underdog filed suit against Ohio, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Washington, arguing that its CFTC-approved sports event contracts are federally regulated derivatives, not state-licensed gambling, and that those states can’t enforce gambling law against them. The suits came three days after Underdog voluntarily dropped its Drafts fantasy product in seven other states to avoid the same conflict.

Did Underdog get banned in any states?

Not banned by regulators — Underdog chose to drop its Drafts contests in Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania on September 9, 2026, after those states said it couldn’t offer both licensed fantasy sports and prediction-market contracts at once. Existing Drafts entries in those states were honored; new ones stopped. Underdog remains fully blocked, separately, in Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nevada, and Washington.

Is my personal information safe with Underdog?

Underdog collects a mailing address, date of birth, and Social Security number to run identity and age checks, which is standard for a real-money platform, not a red flag specific to Underdog. The app supports 2FA and biometric login to protect the account itself, and geolocation confirms a player is physically inside a state where their product is actually approved.

Should I worry about my Underdog balance if my state gets sued over?

Underdog has said existing entries and balances in affected states are honored even when a product is withdrawn — that was the case with the September 2026 Drafts pullback. The safer read is: don’t deposit more than you’re comfortable having tied up if you’re in one of the five states currently in litigation, since a court loss could change what Underdog can offer there next.