Underdog Fantasy Changes California Offering Amid DFS Scrutiny

Through a peer-to-peer format, players now compete against each other for pooled prizes, not against the company.

Ziv Chen

Last Updated: July 25, 2025 9:29 AM EDT • 2 minute read

Underdog Fantasy Changes California Offering Amid DFS Scrutiny — Pictured: San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Robbie Ray delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Photo by D. Ross Cameron via Imagn Images.

Underdog Fantasy, an online daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator, has changed its featured games offering in California from Pick ‘Em to a peer-to-peer model. DFS is not officially legal in California, but that has not stopped operators like Underdog Fantasy and PrizePicks from operating in the state, as they have been doing for years.

Yet, California’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta, has stated in recent months that DFS is indeed illegal in the California sports betting space. However, his statement isn’t legally binding, and no court has ruled on it yet. In response to the Attorney General’s statement, DFS companies have now changed how their games work to avoid legal scrutiny.

Originally, Pick ‘Em meant that players had to go against Underdog to win a payout. Through a peer-to-peer format, players now compete against each other for pooled prizes, not against the company. This is an attempt to avoid legal issues by removing the house from the equation, though the AG could still challenge the legality of such actions.

PrizePicks and DraftKings also made similar changes, but the AG remains firm in his statement regarding the legality of all DFS games.

Underdog files lawsuit against Attorney General

Besides changing how their games work, Underdog also filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Bonta in an attempt to block him from releasing his opinion on daily fantasy sports. The lawsuit argued that the Attorney General can only issue opinions on questions of law and can only answer questions that relate to the duties of an official requesting that opinion.

Underdog further argues that the AG’s opinion doesn’t constitute either of these points, and thus lacks the authority to issue an opinion regarding DFS in the first place. With the release of the Attorney General’s opinion, Underdog could face irreparable harm in the form of fleeing customers, risk-averse banks, payment processors, and the loss of investment and goodwill.

Attorney General Bonta says DFS ban is to be enforced

That said, the opposition from DFS operators won’t budge. After the release of Attorney General Bonta’s negative legal opinion on DFS, operators still haven’t shown any indication of leaving the state.

The Attorney General, on the other hand, is prepared to take further action and enforce a ban on DFS betting. However, his office’s opinion, though authoritative, isn’t a legislative or regulatory change in its own right, and it lacks the support of other state figures, such as Gov. Gavin Newsom and Congresswoman Ro Khanna.

In the end, just because Bonta’s office deemed DFS illegal doesn’t mean that DFS is suddenly illegal across the state. Given how things are playing out currently, operators switching to a peer-to-peer format remain safe for now.

Written by:
Ziv Chen

Ziv has over two decades of experience in the igaming and sports betting industry, having served in senior marketing and business development positions with both B2C and B2B companies, including Playtech and Microgaming. In 2019, Ziv decided to pursue his passion for writing and became a fulltime industry journalist, covering casino, sports, and gambling business news. He’s specialties include casino games and technology, US state gambling regulation, company performance, as well as gambling affiliates and marketing. As a Pitt graduate, Ziv is a diehard fan of all Pittsburgh sports teams, with the Steelers at the top of the list. In his free time, he enjoys reading crime fiction, biographies (mainly of sports personalities, but not only) and American history. Ziv’s Favorite quote: “We're going to pursue perfection, knowing full well we won't catch it, but we're going to relentlessly chase it," Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach.