FanDuel sunsets Picks platform after only 8 months
Table of contents
- FanDuel is closing FanDuel Picks, its peer-to-peer pick’em fantasy game, less than eight months after its official August 2025 launch.
- The product will stop accepting new entries on 23 April, with customer accounts remaining accessible for withdrawals until 29 May.
- The closure coincides with the separate wind-down of FanDuel TV, with more than 100 jobs at risk from the linear horse racing network’s phase-out.
FanDuel is shutting down its peer-to-peer daily fantasy sports product, FanDuel Picks, across all active states.
The Flutter Entertainment-owned operator announced the decision in a 27 March blog post, saying it would reallocate resources to other areas of the business. No new contest entries will be accepted after 23 April. Customers can access their accounts and withdraw funds until 29 May.
The product officially launched in August 2025, following a soft launch in five states in April of that year. FanDuel Picks allowed users to predict whether between three and eight players would record more or less than their projected statistical lines, competing against other users in the same pool for cash prizes.
At the time of the closure announcement, the product was live in 17 states. All existing paid entries will run and settle as scheduled, with winnings credited to customer accounts once contests complete.
A crowded market and a short shelf life
FanDuel entered the P2P pick’em space as a relative latecomer. PrizePicks, Underdog, and DraftKings had offered comparable products for several years before the August 2025 launch.
The format had attracted sustained regulatory scrutiny in multiple states, with Arizona, Colorado, and Michigan all moving to restrict or ban against-the-house fantasy products on the basis that they too closely resemble sports betting.
FanDuel’s version was a pure peer-to-peer model, designed to avoid the regulatory friction that had affected house-banked competitors. Even so, the format did not generate sufficient traction to justify continued investment.
The closure leaves FanDuel’s DFS portfolio centred on its traditional contest offering and FanDuel Faceoff, which operates real-money peer-to-peer contests in more than 30 states and has been part of the product suite considerably longer. Faceoff predates Picks by several years and operates under a more established regulatory framework.
Prediction markets take priority
The Picks closure shows a clear pivot toward event contracts. FanDuel Predicts, developed in partnership with CME Group, launched in late December 2025. It expanded to all 50 states in January 2026 and now offers sports trading in 18 states where FanDuel does not hold a traditional sportsbook licence. The speed of that rollout signals the company views prediction markets as a higher-growth vertical than P2P pick’em fantasy.
The same day FanDuel announced the Picks shutdown, it disclosed plans to phase out FanDuel TV, its linear horse racing network. Originally launched in 1999 as TVG and rebranded under Flutter, the channel will wind down over approximately 20 months.
More than 100 positions are expected to be eliminated by the end of November 2026, with around 60% of staff cut by July 2026 as studio production scales back.
Horse racing betting will continue through the FanDuel Racing app, the FanDuel TV+ streaming service, and simulcast feeds on FanDuel’s wagering platforms. Non-racing programming, including shows such as Up & Adams and Run it Back, will not be affected.
Implications for operators
FanDuel’s exit from P2P pick’em removes a well-resourced competitor from a segment that remains active and legally contested.
For established operators, the departure opens space to consolidate user bases. PrizePicks and Underdog, both adapting their strategies in response to regulatory pressure and the rise of prediction markets, now face one fewer major rival in the format.
For FanDuel, the back-to-back closures of Picks and FanDuel TV show that the company is sharpening its focus around its core sportsbook, casino, traditional DFS, and the prediction markets vertical it has committed to at scale.
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