Underdog unifies fantasy and sportsbook

Building the sportsbook in house lets Underdog turn fantasy traffic into betting revenue on its own terms, instead of renting the core product from a supplier. That matters because the app can share login, wallet, balances, and product design across fantasy and sportsbook, which makes it easier to move a Pick'em customer into straight bets, parlays, and live markets without forcing them into a separate experience.

• Underdog said at launch in North Carolina on March 11, 2024 that the sportsbook was powered by its own technology, after roughly three years of buildout. The launch also reused fantasy credentials and balances, which shows the engineering goal was one account and one wallet, not a bolt on betting tab from an outside vendor.
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• Owning the stack gives operators more control over pricing, market creation, and release speed. DraftKings highlighted this logic when it acquired SBTech in 2020 and described the deal as moving off an external provider onto proprietary sportsbook technology, with expected gains in innovation and operating leverage.
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• This also fits Underdog's broader playbook. Industry interviews describe fantasy as a much cheaper way to acquire users than sportsbook alone, and Underdog's advantage is that customers already know the app, keep one balance, and can graduate from season long drafts to Pick'em to sportsbook inside the same account.
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The next step is a tighter blend of fantasy style interaction and sportsbook depth. As Underdog expands state by state, proprietary tech should let it ship faster, connect more betting formats to the existing fantasy funnel, and compete less on pure promo spend and more on a simpler product that keeps users inside one app longer.