Underdog is using Sportradar’s AI-powered responsible gaming tools to help identify at-risk bettors, the companies announced Wednesday.
Underdog becomes the first U.S. sports betting operator to incorporate Bettor Sense, the player-protection solution Sportradar launched in July, according to a press release. The product is designed to detect problem gambling at an early stage and give operators tools to respond directly to affected players.
The technology will apply across all of Underdog’s fantasy sports products, sports betting app in North Carolina and recently added sports prediction markets, according to a company spokesperson.
The integration comes as regulators and lawmakers intensify efforts around responsible gaming, with states such as Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and tightening requirements and moving to block sports prediction markets over concerns they lack the safeguards of licensed betting and fantasy.
How Bettor Sense works
Bettor Sense uses continuous behavioral monitoring, real-time risk scoring and profile analysis to identify players exhibiting problem gambling behavior, according to the release. It then connects those players with treatment services from Birches Health, a national network of licensed clinicians.
“Collaborating with Sportradar to integrate Bettor Sense is another step in Underdog’s proactive approach to enhanced player protection across all entry types,” said Adam Warrington, Underdog’s vice president of responsible gaming. “The integration of this leading player protection technology to detect problem play and provide clear resources to those who need it, now including treatment services from the clinicians at Birches Health, is a critical step forward for our players.”
Warrington joined in 2023 after leading corporate social responsibility initiatives at Anheuser–Busch, including community impact and responsible drinking programs.
Brazilian operator BETesporte was the first Sportradar client to adopt the product, joining the company’s Integrity Exchange — a worldwide information-sharing network that collects reports of suspicious betting activity to assist integrity monitoring.
Underdog selective in predictions launch
Founded in 2020, Brooklyn-based Underdog has grown rapidly through its fantasy pick’em contests and expanded into regulated sports betting last year in North Carolina.
Most recently, the company launched sports prediction markets in 16 states, mostly where sports betting is illegal, through a partnership with Crypto.com.
That product operates under federal commodities law, according to operators. But the American Gaming Association and several tribal gaming groups argue it amounts to unlicensed sports betting without user protections, and multiple states have filed lawsuits claiming it relies on a loophole to skirt their gambling laws.
