IG Group posts Underdog revenue surge as takeover completion nears
The FTSE 100 firm's Q3 update showed Underdog's net revenue more than doubling year-on-year, even as IG Group's own quarterly revenue fell and its shares wobbled on the London Stock Exchange.
IG Group has issued its first financial update on Underdog since confirming plans to acquire the US sports company for $1.1bn, according to SBC News.
The FTSE 100 firm said Underdog's net revenue climbed more than 100% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2026, to approximately $105 million, heading into the final quarter of the year, which it noted accounted for over a third of Underdog's 2025 revenue.
Underdog operates both daily fantasy sports and a prediction market platform, and the deal to bring it into IG Group's portfolio is expected to complete either later this year or in early 2027.
Since the acquisition was announced, Underdog has withdrawn its daily fantasy sports operations from seven states after rulings barred operators from combining state-licensed DFS products with federal event contracts, SBC News reported.
Underdog has since filed lawsuits against multiple states seeking to block local enforcement under the Supremacy Clause, escalating a legal dispute that sits awkwardly alongside its earlier retreat from those markets.
That sequence raises questions about the company's direction, given that IG Group chief executive Breon Corcoran had pointed to Underdog's "leading daily fantasy sports franchise" when explaining the rationale for the takeover.
The timing also coincides with a wider debate in the UK, IG Group's home market, over how prediction markets should be regulated.
The Financial Conduct Authority said last month that it was reassessing whether consumers should be given broader access to investment-style products, a move that could open the door to prediction market access for UK customers.
Speakers at the Global Prediction Market Forum, held during the SBC Summit in Lisbon last week, also voiced confidence that prediction platforms have a future in Europe.
Underdog's growth contrasts with IG Group's own performance in the quarter: total group revenue is expected to come in at roughly £240 million, down around 14% year-on-year.
The figures triggered an early sell-off in IG Group shares on the London Stock Exchange, which fell from £9.79 to as low as £9.58 within 40 minutes of the market opening.
The stock has since recovered most of that ground and was trading at £9.88, according to SBC News.
IG Group leadership is due to host a virtual seminar for institutional investors and analysts on Thursday to set out more detail on the Underdog acquisition.