Underdog Fantasy, one the fastest-growing sports gaming and media companies in the US, was recognized as the number 15 company on LinkedIn’s 2024 Top Startups list in the US, alongside startups recognized for employment growth, engagement, job interest, and attraction of top talent. This marks the second consecutive year Underdog has made LinkedIn’s top startups list. Underdog is the only sports gaming company to make the list in 2024, and is the only sports gaming company to make LinkedIn’s list since Underdog’s founding in 2020.

LinkedIn’s annual startup rankings are based on LinkedIn data across four categories: employee growth; jobseeker interest; member engagement within the company and its employees; and incoming talent from LinkedIn’s Top Companies list. To be eligible, companies must be fully independent, privately held, have 50 or more full-time employees, be five years old or younger and be headquartered in the US.

“Underdog was founded with innovation at its core, and we have a relentless focus on one mission: build new products that make sports more fun for fans, and we are building faster and faster every day. We are seeing the results, and so are those in the industry who know and it’s why we’ve seen a flood of top talent from some of the biggest companies in our industry and beyond come to Underdog in the last year. We are extremely proud of what we have built and this recognition from LinkedIn is a testament to the work put in by everyone at Underdog,” said Jeremy Levine, founder and CEO of Underdog Fantasy.

This past year has seen Underdog expand its fantasy sports offerings, now played in 41 states, and launch its first sports betting app, in the state of North Carolina, with plans to add more sports betting states. Underdog continues to see massive growth in its highly successful media content network, which now boasts the fifth-largest daily sports show in the US, across all platforms, and has seen major additions this year to its roster of programs, including a partnership with eight-time Super Bowl Champion coach Bill Belichick.

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A steady influx of sports gaming veterans and innovators from top operators have joined Underdog this year to lead and execute the company’s massive ambitions, and the current ranking from LinkedIn only further confirms the company’s position as an emerging leader in the industry.

International Game Technology PLC announced that it recently renewed a multi-year retail sports betting agreement with FanDuel, North America’s premier online gaming company and an operating unit within Flutter Entertainment plc. Under the terms of the agreement, IGT PlaySports will continue as the exclusive retail sports betting platform provider for FanDuel’s retail sportsbooks across North America for four additional years, starting September 1, 2024. IGT PlaySports and FanDuel have worked together since 2019, when FanDuel opened its first sportsbook in the US at The New Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment in New Jersey.

“For more than five years, IGTPlaySports’ team and technology have helped FanDuel’s retail sportsbook operation deliver a best-in-class customer experience while helping us maintain our position as America’s #1 Sportsbook. Given IGT’s experience as a global land-based casino supplier, we believe it offers the experience and capabilities we needed supporting our retail locations,” said Christian Genetski, President of FanDuel.

“IGT PlaySports looks forward to supporting FanDuel as its exclusive retail sports betting platform provider in North America for four additional years. IGT PlaySports is committed to helping our customers realize the full potential of the retail sports betting market and differentiate their products through exceptional player experience and reliable technology,” said Joe Bertolone, IGT Senior Vice President of Sports Betting.

The Koi Nation of Northern California is in full compliance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’s “Restored Lands Provision” in the tribe’s pursuit of the Shiloh Resort & Casino project in unincorporated Sonoma County, California.

“The promise of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’s “restored lands provision” was to remedy the tragic history of forced removal and relocation by allowing restored lands to be utilized for tribal gaming. Like it or not, a rigid set of rules exists to qualify for this provision of federal law — and we’ve dutifully met them all,” said Darin Beltran, Chair of the Koi Nation of Northern California’s Tribal Council.

The Koi Nation’s ancestors relocated to Sonoma County after rejecting the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ offer of a Rancheria in neighboring Lake County in 1916 that the agency itself deemed uninhabitable. This tragic series of events rendered the Koi Nation landless and led to the improper termination of its federal recognition status, ending its ability to pursue gaming through the same rights afforded to all other federally recognized tribes.

The Koi Nation’s federal recognition status was finally restored in 2000, and a 2019 ruling in a case overseen by the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, Beryl A. Howell, recognized the tribe’s ability to pursue gaming through the “restored lands provision”.

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“This unique provision of federal law allows tribes restored to federal recognition status, such as the Koi Nation, to pursue gaming according to strict statutory and regulatory requirements,” Beltran said.

These requirements include the demonstration of a “significant historical connection” to the site of proposed gaming projects.

In its filing for a restored lands opinion, the Koi Nation methodically details the tribe’s deep ties to Sonoma County. These include their ancestors’ well-regarded roles as Sonoma County Native American political leaders who advocated for 1928 federal native claims legislation, Native American social rights and community organization with other Pomo tribes, and voters for the tribe’s organization under President FranklinRoosevelt’s Indian Reorganization Act of 1935.

“Since that time, the center of Koi Pomo life – and death – has been in Sonoma County. Our application is in full compliance with Indian Gaming Regulation Act’s restored lands provision,” said Dino Beltran, Vice Chair of the Koi Nation of Northern California’s Tribal Council.

The Koi Nation’s strong historical connection to Sonoma County was recently supported by an opinion piece published by the project site’s local paper of record, the Press Democrat.

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Additionally, the largest native American news publication in the US, Indian Country Today, published an opinion piece supporting the Koi Nation’s utilization of the restored land provision in the face of recent opposition.

The publication of these two pieces demonstrates that the opinions contained therein are significant not just in the region surrounding the proposed Shiloh Resort & Casino project, but for all of Indian country throughout the US.