PrizePicks will be expanding in two more markets with its Arena product, a peer-to-peer sports contest, after receiving Daily Fantasy Sports Operator Licenses in Delaware and Missouri.
Arena Gets Green Light
The Missouri Gaming Commission and the Delaware Division of Gaming Enforcement, in concert with the Delaware Lottery, have approved PrizePicks’ “Arena” product as the newest addition to its daily fantasy sports offerings. Arena’s peer-to-peer model allows it to be categorized under the DFS umbrella and not as a sports betting option.
“We are proud that Arena has been approved in every state where it has been submitted. We’ve seen strong player adoption to date, and we look forward to replicating our success in these new markets with a fun gaming experience,” said PrizePicks CEO Mike Ybarra in the press release. “We’d like to extend our gratitude to the Delaware Division of Gaming Enforcement, the Delaware Lottery, and the Missouri Gaming Commission for their thoughtful collaboration.”
According to a PrizePicks post on X, launch details will be revealed this coming week.
Including its newest markets in Delaware and Maryland, Arena has now been approved in 15 states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
PrizePicks Shift Formats
The major issue vexing companies like PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy has been the peer-to-house betting model. It pitted customers against the house, much like betting with a bookie instead of competing against another person as in traditional DFS tournaments.
In the latter model, the DFS operator takes a commission based on the volume of players and their respective entry fees. However, when DFS operators operate as the house, they begin blurring the lines between DFS and sports betting, which is why
PrizePicks, Underdog, and Betr received cease-and-desist letters from several markets, including Florida in March.
PrizePicks and Underdog returned the following month with their respective peer-to-peer betting models that adhered to Florida law. PrizePicks unveiled its “Arena” offering while Underdog Fantasy announced the introduction of “Pick ‘EM Champions.”
“Arena is a peer-to-peer game played against other players rather than against the house,” said a PrizePicks spokesperson. “This model of games of skill was not subject to scrutiny in Florida. While we prefer state codification for all fantasy games of skill rather than the common law, we look forward to working with policymakers to protect the DFS games sports fans across Florida love.”
Chairman of the Seminole Tribe in Florida, Jim Allen, considers any pick’em-style parlay games that are wagered between the customer and the house a violation of Florida law that has given a sports betting monopoly to the Seminoles in the Sunshine State.
“The compact allows for the existing scope of fantasy to not be an exclusion or a default,” Allen said in December. “So, if DraftKings and FanDuel continue to do what they’re doing, we’re fine with that. So that’s category one. We have no issue with that whatsoever. But certainly, what Betr and Underdog and others like them are doing is flat-out illegal. There is no way around it. Eleven other states have declared exactly what they’re doing as illegal and we support the Florida Gaming Commission and the Attorney General in pursuing that.”
