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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined Underdog Sports Holdings for failure to timely file "Form D" paperwork for several unregistered securities offerings in violation of agency rules.

Underdog, a privately held corporation that operates online fantasy sports across the U.S., plus mobile sports betting in North Carolina, was one of three companies on Friday (December 20).

“Form D filings are crucial sources of information on private capital formation, and compliance with the requirement to make such filings in a timely manner is vital to the commission’s efforts to promote investor protection while also facilitating capital formation, especially with respect to small businesses,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, acting director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, in a statement.

Wadhwa said the orders found that the three companies deprived the SEC and the marketplace of timely information concerning nearly $300m of unregistered securities offerings.

From at least April 2020 to January 2022, Underdog engaged in several unregistered securities offerings, reaching out to at least several hundred prospective investors, according to the SEC.

The SEC noted that Underdog raised “tens of millions of dollars from over 100 investors”. Without admitting or denying the findings, Underdog agreed to cease and desist from the charged provisions and to pay a civil penalty.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) last week approved a $25,000 fine against live casino provider Evolution US LLC for failing to save surveillance video at a live-dealer studio over a two-day period in October 2022.

According to the consent agreement, Evolution experienced a server error due to a brief power outage. The company’s surveillance cameras continued to operate as normal and did not experience any downtime during the power surge, but the server error caused surveillance coverage for certain cameras to fail to save.

The PGCB noted that surveillance coverage of 14 active tables from the time of the power outage until the server was brought back online was not retained.

Evolution holds an iGaming manufacturer license and operates a live table-game studio in Philadelphia.

The company was fined $7,500 in August by the PGCB following an incident in 2023 where a man managed to bypass several security checkpoints and enter its Philadelphia-based studio.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) will not move forward with a proposed regulatory change to make it easier for gamblers to remove their names from the state's self-exclusion list.

Currently, people who ban themselves from casinos must manually remove themselves from the list after their self-exclusion period has ended. The PGCB had proposed a rule change so that self-exclusions would be automatically lifted after the period of the ban expires. Bans for online gaming, video gaming terminals (VGTs) and fantasy sports are automatically lifted.

Gamblers who put themselves on self-exclusion lists for one or five years are barred from entering a casino, placing a sports bet or online casino game, or playing a VGT at a truck stop.

The PGCB decided to abandon the proposal last week after a month-long public comment period sparked more than 40 comments in opposition to the rule change.

“While self-exclusion is an incredibly valuable resource for individuals experiencing gambling-related issues, it is our opinion that offering automatic removals for those who select one-year or five-year terms could lead to potential problems for individuals in various stages of recovery,” Josh Ercole, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania, said in comments submitted to the control board.