US fantasy operators push the boundaries of legal sports betting

As New Jersey waits to learn if the US Supreme Court will consider its bid to overturn the federal ban on sports betting, gaming operators continue to offer consumers pseudo-betting options to fill the void.

On Monday, WinView Inc announced that it had raised $12m in financing to further develop its WinView Games free-play in-play sports betting mobile app. The funding round is a tenfold bump on the $1.2m the “second-screen gaming” company raised back in 2015.

Among the deep-pocketed investors who contributed to WinView’s latest funding round are Ted Leonsis, who owns the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Leonsis previously participated in funding rounds led by daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings.

The ad-supported WinView app offers fans the ability to enter contests in which they predict a variety of in-play outcomes for a chance to win virtual credits in the form of WinCash, which can be redeemed for real cash. WinView says its contests are legal in all 50 states since they don’t require players to ante up an entry fee.