Atlas World Sports Enters Daily Fantasy Arena with AI-Powered Platform

CHICAGO, IL – February 25, 2026 – Atlas World Sports, a platform known for aggregating sports betting odds and data, today stepped into the fiercely competitive daily fantasy sports (DFS) market with the launch of AtlasDFS. The new product aims to create a unified ecosystem where users can research betting lines, track live stats, and now compete in fantasy contests, all within a single application.

The company, which has branded itself as the “Expedia of sports betting,” provides a service that allows users to compare odds and promotions from over 20 different sportsbooks, including industry giants like DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars. The addition of AtlasDFS is a strategic move to complete what CEO and Co-Founder Robert Kraft calls “the picture for our users.”

“Whether you're shopping for the best line, tracking live stats, or building a daily fantasy lineup, you can do all of it with Atlas,” Kraft said in a statement. “That's what we've been working toward.”

AtlasDFS launches with a popular “Pick'em” format, where users predict whether athletes will achieve “More or Less” than a given statistical projection. The platform is now live for the NBA, with a phased rollout planned for the PGA Tour, NHL, MLB, and the NFL later this year.

The All-in-One Ecosystem Strategy

Atlas World Sports' entry into DFS represents a significant bet on the power of integration. In a market where sports fans often juggle multiple apps—one for betting, another for fantasy, and a third for scores and news—Atlas is positioning itself as the central hub. This strategy mirrors the consolidation seen in other tech sectors, where convenience and a seamless user experience become key differentiators.

The North American fantasy sports market, valued at over $13 billion in 2025, is dominated by DraftKings and FanDuel, which together control a vast majority of the market. However, a new wave of disruptive companies, including PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy, has found immense success by focusing on the simplified Pick'em format. The recent $1.5 billion acquisition of a controlling stake in PrizePicks by Allwyn International underscores the massive investor confidence in this specific segment of the DFS market. AtlasDFS is entering a field with both entrenched titans and nimble, high-growth competitors.

By integrating DFS directly with its core odds-comparison engine, Atlas hopes to create a flywheel effect. A user researching an NBA player prop on a sportsbook might be prompted to include that same player in an AtlasDFS entry, and vice-versa. This cross-pollination is central to the company’s goal of increasing user engagement and capturing a larger share of the sports fan’s wallet and attention.

AI and Data as the Differentiator

Beyond simple convenience, Atlas is banking on its technological backbone to give AtlasDFS a competitive edge. The company’s existing platform already utilizes predictive AI and machine learning to process vast amounts of data, including real-time line movements from its partner sportsbooks, injury reports, and even proprietary game excitement ratings. The plan is to funnel these powerful insights directly to the fantasy player.

“Our goal is to build a next-generation fantasy sports experience that blends everything fans love about daily fantasy with the real-time power of sports betting insights,” stated Kevin Koeppel, the newly appointed Director of Product for Atlas’s fantasy division.

This technology could manifest as AI-driven suggestions, value alerts when a player projection seems misaligned with betting market odds, or customized insights based on a user’s past activity. By leveraging its partnerships with major leagues like the NBA and NFL for official data feeds, Atlas aims to provide a layer of analytical depth that standalone DFS apps may lack. The integration of its proprietary odds-scraping tools and real-time data APIs means that the statistical projections on AtlasDFS could be more dynamic and responsive to market sentiment than those of its rivals, offering a more sophisticated experience for savvy players.

A Veteran's Second Act in a Crowded Field

Leading this ambitious product launch is Kevin Koeppel, a veteran of the DFS industry. Koeppel previously founded No House Advantage (NHA), an innovative platform that popularized a peer-to-peer version of player prop contests. NHA gained traction by allowing users to compete against each other rather than the house, a model that helped it navigate complex state regulations at the time.

However, NHA’s journey was not without turbulence. The company ceased operations in August 2023, citing financial difficulties stemming from what it described as a “payment chargeback scheme.” While the micro-betting company Betr, co-founded by Jake Paul, eventually acquired NHA’s user database and covered outstanding player balances, the episode highlighted the operational risks in the fast-moving fantasy and gaming space.

Koeppel’s appointment at Atlas World Sports marks a significant second act. His experience building a DFS product from the ground up, coupled with the lessons learned from NHA’s challenges, provides Atlas with seasoned leadership. He is now tasked with integrating a product from a strategic acquisition made in October 2024 and scaling it within a much larger, data-rich ecosystem, a challenge that aligns with his history of product innovation.

Navigating a Treacherous Regulatory Landscape

Perhaps the most significant challenge facing AtlasDFS has little to do with competition or technology and everything to do with regulation. The Pick'em style of fantasy sports, its chosen format, is currently under intense scrutiny from state gaming commissions across the country.

Regulators in several key markets have argued that these games, where users bet against the house on player statistics, are functionally identical to the player proposition bets offered by licensed sportsbooks. As a result, they contend these contests constitute illegal sports wagering, not fantasy sports. This interpretation has led to significant consequences for major operators.

In October 2023, the New York State Gaming Commission officially banned Pick'em games, a move quickly followed by the Michigan Gaming Control Board. Regulators in Florida and Wyoming have also issued cease-and-desist letters to prominent Pick'em operators. The core of the issue is whether choosing “More or Less” on a single player’s stats constitutes a game of skill, as DFS operators argue, or a game of chance that should be confined to the highly taxed and regulated sports betting market. As AtlasDFS rolls out, it will have to carefully navigate this patchwork of state-by-state rules, which could limit its addressable market and introduce significant compliance costs. The company's success may ultimately depend as much on its legal strategy as it does on its technology.