Where Is Underdog
Fantasy Legal?

Why Underdog's State List Is Complicated

Underdog doesn't publish one yes-or-no answer per state. Its help center rates each state product by product: Drafts, Pick'em, Prediction Picks, College Pick'em, College Drafts and Rips. A state can be open for one and closed for another. New York, for example, has Drafts but not Pick'em.

That's why the headline number can mislead. Underdog's homepage says it's "Available in 46 states, Washington D.C., and Canada." But its state-by-state help article lists Drafts in only 34 states plus D.C., and Pick'em in 33 states plus D.C. If you came here to draft a best-ball team or build a Pick'em entry, the smaller numbers are the ones that matter.

Everything below comes from Underdog's own help center, mainly its "State Eligibility" article (as of October 2026), plus its separate pages on Champions and Prediction Picks. We cover the fantasy products in detail, give Prediction Picks a short section, and leave Rips aside.

States Where Underdog Drafts and Pick'em Are Available

As of October 2026, Underdog's help center lists both Drafts and Pick'em as eligible in these 33 states plus Washington, D.C. The label in parentheses is the type of Pick'em Underdog lists for that state:

• Alabama (Champions)
• Alaska (Classic)
• Arizona
• Arkansas (Champions)
• California (Champions)
• Colorado
• Delaware (Champions)
• Florida (Champions)
• Georgia (Classic)
• Illinois (Champions)
• Indiana (Classic)
• Kansas (Champions)
• Kentucky (Champions)
• Minnesota (Classic)
• Missouri (Champions)
• Nebraska (Classic)
• New Hampshire (Champions)
• New Mexico (Classic)
• North Carolina (Champions)
• North Dakota (Classic)
• Oklahoma (Classic)
• Oregon (Classic)
• Rhode Island (Classic)
• South Carolina (Classic)
• South Dakota (Classic)
• Tennessee (Champions)
• Texas (Classic)
• Utah (Classic)
• Vermont (Champions)
• Virginia (Champions)
• West Virginia (Champions)
• Wisconsin (Classic)
• Wyoming (Champions)
• Washington, D.C. (Champions)

Arizona and Colorado are listed as Pick'em-eligible without a Classic or Champions label. Underdog's separate "What states have Champions" page lists both. The app is the final word on which version you'll see.

Drafts covers Underdog's draft contests, including best ball. In Underdog's words, in best ball "participants select players through a draft," rosters are then set with "no waivers, substitutions, or trades," and Underdog automatically counts your highest-scoring players at each position. If that's your game, our Best Ball Mania VII strategy guide is the place to start.

Classic vs Champions: Why the Label Matters

Underdog runs two versions of Pick'em, and which one you get depends on your state. Underdog describes Champions as "a peer-to-peer fantasy sports contest in which participants create a roster of 2-8 athletes." You predict whether each athlete will go higher or lower than a benchmark stat, and you're entered into a tournament with other players. Your winnings depend on how you do "relative to other participants in the tournament." The entry fee and prize structure are shown before you enter.

You don't pick the version. The state list decides it. If you've used Pick'em in one state and travel to another, don't be surprised if the contest looks different. For how Underdog's Pick'em payouts compare with PrizePicks, see our pick'em payouts breakdown.

New York: Drafts Only

New York is the one state where Underdog lists Drafts as eligible but Pick'em as ineligible. College Pick'em, College Drafts and Prediction Picks are also listed as ineligible there. If you're in New York, Underdog is a drafts and best-ball app.

States Where Underdog Fantasy Isn't Available

Underdog's help center lists both Drafts and Pick'em as ineligible in these 16 states as of October 2026:

• Connecticut
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts (see note below; check in-app)
• Michigan
• Mississippi (see note below; check in-app)
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Washington

In 14 of these states, Underdog lists Prediction Picks as its only eligible product among those covered here. Its Prediction Picks page calls them "Prediction Picks-only states." Michigan and Nevada are listed as ineligible for Prediction Picks too.

Massachusetts and Mississippi: Underdog's Pages Disagree

Underdog's State Eligibility article and its Prediction Picks page both put Massachusetts and Mississippi in the Prediction Picks-only group, with Pick'em and Drafts ineligible. But Underdog's separate "What states have Champions" page, which was updated less recently, still lists both states for Champions. We're not going to settle that for Underdog. If you're in either state, open the app and see whether the Pick'em tab appears.

College Contests Have a Shorter List

College contests have their own list. Underdog lists College Pick'em and College Drafts as eligible in 25 states plus D.C. Several states that have regular Drafts and Pick'em are excluded from the college versions:

• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Delaware
• Indiana
• New Hampshire
• Tennessee
• Vermont

New York is also out for both college products. If you play college football Pick'em, note that those contests aren't on Underdog's list for these states.

Prediction Picks: A Separate Product With a Separate List

Prediction Picks is a separate product from Underdog's fantasy games (Underdog describes it in trading terms), and its list is much longer. Underdog's Prediction Picks page lists it in 46 states plus Washington, D.C., and lists it as not available in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and New York. Underdog says that "to trade Prediction Picks, you must be 18 or older and physically located in an eligible state at the time of trading."

That 46-state count is the same number as Underdog's homepage headline, and it's far bigger than the fantasy lists above. If you want Drafts or Pick'em specifically, go by the per-product lists, not the headline.

Full State-by-State Table

Here's every state on Underdog's State Eligibility page as of October 2026. "College" covers both College Pick'em and College Drafts, which Underdog lists identically in every state.

Canada and U.S. Territories

Underdog says it "is also available for play to Canadian residents." Not every province is open, though. Its State Eligibility page lists Ontario and Alberta as ineligible for Drafts, Pick'em, Prediction Picks and the college products. The same goes for the U.S. territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.

Traveling? Your Location Decides, Not Your Address

Underdog is explicit: "State eligibility is determined based on your physical location at the time of participation, rather than your state of residency or where you signed up from." A Texas account holder visiting Ohio is judged by Ohio's list while there.

Two travel rules from Underdog's help center are worth knowing:

• Winnings stay valid. Winnings from contests entered while you were in an eligible state don't change if you later end up in a restricted state. Underdog's example: "winnings earned while in Indiana remain valid even after returning to Ohio."
• Best-ball drafts carry on. If you entered a slow or best-ball draft in an eligible state and then travel to a state where Drafts are ineligible, you can't enter new drafts. You can keep making picks in drafts you already entered.

Don't try to get around the location rule. If Underdog's fantasy games aren't offered where you are, the answer is a different product or platform, not a workaround.

Age Requirements

Underdog's help-center pages we used don't give a state-by-state age table for Drafts or Pick'em, and its homepage disclaimers aren't consistent on which states require 21+. So here's what we can say with confidence: the minimum age varies by state (18+ in most; higher in some). Check the requirement in the app before you deposit.

For Prediction Picks, Underdog states the minimum directly: 18 or older.

If Underdog Isn't Available in Your State

Every operator publishes its own list, so a "no" from Underdog isn't a "no" everywhere. As of October 2026, DraftKings' own availability page lists daily fantasy sports in Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It also lists Louisiana, though its app listing excludes select parishes there. Underdog lists Drafts and Pick'em as ineligible in all of those states. DraftKings' format is different, built around salary-cap lineups, so it's not a like-for-like swap.

DraftKings doesn't list paid DFS in Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada or Washington either, so players there have fewer options. Check each operator's own state page. For a pick'em alternative, our guide to where PrizePicks is legal covers its list. For a head-to-head on the two pick'em apps, read Underdog vs PrizePicks. Our best picks page compares the major platforms side by side.

The Bottom Line

As of October 2026, Underdog's help center lists Drafts in 34 states plus Washington, D.C., and Pick'em in 33 states plus D.C. New York is drafts-only. Sixteen states, including New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada, have neither. The "46 states" headline matches the count for Prediction Picks, a separate product with a much longer list. Whether you get Classic or Champions Pick'em depends on your state, and college contests run on a shorter list of their own.

If you're in an eligible state, Underdog is one of the best apps for best ball and pick'em. Our full Underdog Fantasy review covers how Drafts and Pick'em work, the app and the new-user offer. Confirm your state in the app, check the age rule, and play within your limits.