Underdog Fantasy Pick’em Is Illegal Sports Betting, Class Action Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit out of New York alleges Underdog Fantasy operates an unlicensed sports betting operation.

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The 26-page complaint centers around Underdog Fantasy Pick’em, a game that enables users to place over/under bets on the performance statistics of professional athletes.

Underdog markets Pick’em as an interactive fantasy sports contest, which New York’s Racing and Pari-Mutuel Wagering & Breeding Law defines as a “game of skill,” the lawsuit says. The state law specifies that fantasy sports are skill-based competitions because contestants compete against each other using their knowledge and expertise of a particular sport to create imaginary teams of professional athletes, the case relays. The “winner” of a fantasy sports contest hinges on the real-world performance metrics of these athletes, the filing explains.

According to the suit, however, Underdog’s Pick’em games are neither interactive nor fantasy. They are illegal games of chance, the case contends.

Per the complaint, Pick’em participants compete against the house, which sets sophisticated betting lines that give it the best chance of making money.

“Consumers cannot rely on their skill and knowledge to gain a competitive edge over other players because they are not competing only against other players,” the filing asserts. “Rather, they are competing against a multi-million dollar corporation that would fail if consumers were simply able to win based on skill and knowledge alone.”

What’s more, the case says, Pick’em players do not pick a fantasy team that “competes” against other contestants. Instead, outcomes are based on predictions about the performance of particular athletes, the suit shares.

“[J]ust as with any other wager, consumers in Pick’em contests are placing wagers on the likelihood of a future contingent event—e.g., whether basketball player x scores y points in z game—over which the consumer has no control,” the Underdog Fantasy lawsuit claims.

The complaint alleges Underdog is illegally operating sports betting without a license and, as a result, sidestepping New York’s strict regulatory framework designed to monitor legalized gambling.

“Without regulation, illegal sports books are able to mislead the public, including duping consumers into thinking they are not engaging in the highly addictive behavior of gambling when they are, creating betting lines with extremely poor odds of winning, misrepresenting consumers’ chances of winning, and ultimately collecting money from consumers who do not realize the implications of their bets,” the filing states.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who lost money by wagering in Pick’em style betting on mobile platforms provided by Underdog.

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