Underdog sues five states in federal court and relinquishes DFS licences
Underdog has pre-emptively sought injunctions against New Mexico, Massachusetts, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin this week in a bid to prevent the states from shutting down its sports prediction markets.
All five jurisdictions are already in litigation battles with other prediction market platforms, or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or both.
Underdog, which is the target of a $1.3bn acquisition by IG Group, has also relinquished its DFS licences in seven states (Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania).
CEO Jeremy Levine blamed the states for allegedly forcing him into deciding between prediction markets and fantasy products: “Those states have taken a legal viewpoint we disagree with: if we offer our CFTC-licensed products we cannot offer fantasy sports in those states.
“So, we had to choose. We could keep our fantasy licences in those states or surrender the licences and offer effectively our full experience, minus drafts.”
Novig unveils national brand campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney
Novig launched its first national marketing campaign, “Just Sports”, on 9 September, with a racy campaign featuring naked shots of actress Sydney Sweeney.
The platform’s slogan for the ads highlights Novig’s focus on sports event contracts – “built by sports traders for sports traders” – contrasting with the broader range of sometimes controversial political and novelty markets offered by rivals.
The campaign spans digital, social, online video and out-of-home placements and will run throughout the NFL season.
Jacob Fortinsky, co-founder and CEO of Novig, said: “There are many places where people can engage with prediction markets across different categories.
“Our focus is sports, and by dedicating ourselves entirely to sports, we have built a better experience for fans. Sydney helped bring that message to life in a way that’s impossible to ignore.”
Coinbase CFO says prediction markets will not cannibalise other products
Coinbase’s CFO has said she does not view prediction markets as “cannibalistic” of other products in the company’s product suite.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Tech Conference on 9 September, Alesia Haas insisted prediction market trading was in fact “incremental” to other revenue streams, adding it was a new way to attract users.
“We’re really excited that this is just a new path to engage customers with a new product set and drive added revenue to Coinbase,” she said. “The entire prediction market asset class has been a growth category for many.”
Haas told delegates Coinbase was expanding the range of event contracts in its offering, even against the backdrop of ongoing litigation in the space.
Robinhood CEO highlights prediction market cross-sell opportunity for retirement funds
The CEO, chairman and co-founder of Robinhood, Vlad Tenev, has outlined the potential of prediction markets to be used as an acquisition tool for the company’s other products, such as retirement accounts and crypto exchanges.
Speaking at the same Goldman Sachs conference, Tenev described prediction markets as a “very effective top-of-funnel driver” for other offerings which allow users to grow their financial assets.
“If we could bring people in through other things and then get them to open retirement accounts, I think it can be counterintuitively a very effective way to actually grow people’s long-term wealth,” he said.
Tenev also highlighted the opportunity to consolidate options, futures and prediction markets in one place on the app, describing it as a “complete solution for crypto traders”.
Pinnacle warns about unauthorised use of its data
Pinnacle has hit out at the unauthorised use of its data amid the rise of prediction markets, as its creates “market confusion, operational disruption and, in some cases, direct commercial damage”.
The high-volume, low-margin bookmaker emphasised there are no authorised resellers of Pinnacle data.
“The only sanctioned source of our pricing data is direct from Pinnacle, and we’ll be increasing our efforts to enforce our rights against unauthorised resellers,” the firm said in a press release.
“A fast and reliable data source is paramount for risk management and market making, and the only way to ensure you receive a Pinnacle feed commensurate with the speed of the market is to get it directly from Pinnacle.”
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