Massachusetts is cracking down on daily fantasy sports pick’em competitions.

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office sent cease-and-desist letters to 10 DFS operators offering pick’em style games in the state.

Two of the largest DFS operators in Massachusetts, PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy, did not receive cease-and-desist letters, but have altered their pick’em offerings in the commonwealth.

Crackdown on pick’em games

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office sent cease-and-desist letters to the follow 10 operators:

  • Boom Fantasy
  • OwnersBox
  • Parlay Play
  • Real Time Fantasy Sports
  • Sleeper
  • Splash Sports
  • Talid Sports dba Chalkboard Fantasy Sports
  • Two Nine Sports dba StatHero
  • Vivid Picks
  • Yahoo! Daily Fantasy Sports

PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy were not among the operators to receive letters from the attorney general. However, both have or will alter their pick’em offerings in the state.

Earlier this week Underdog Fantasy transitioned to its peer-to-peer pick’em competitions, moving away from its player-against-the-house model that has received scrutiny in a handful of states across the country.

“In consultation with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, we’ve moved to our peer-to-peer pick’em product in Massachusetts,” Underdog Fantasy Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Stacie Stern said in a statement.

PrizePicks will also be changing its pick’em offerings in the commonwealth. A spokesperson confirmed that it will cease its classic pick’em competitions and begin offering its PrizePicks Arena games, which pits users against each other instead of against the house, beginning March 8.

“PrizePicks has reached an agreement with regulators in Massachusetts to offer our peer-to-peer Arena game starting March 8. We appreciate the Massachusetts regulators willingness to work with us to make sure PrizePicks members and fantasy sports fans have no interruptions in their access to our contests,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Tough week for DFS operators

It’s been a brutal week, and an even worse month, for DFS operators across the country.

This week Underdog Fantasy has pulled its pick’em games out of both North Carolina and Mississippi. The operator will not fully be leaving Mississippi, as it will continue to offer its draft competitions to users, and the company should be one of several operators to soon receive a North Carolina sports betting license to launch on March 11.

Earlier this month both operators received cease-and-desist letters from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. The Department believes that the operators classic pick’em games are too closely associated with sports betting and “player prop bets.”

Under Arkansas law, traditional daily fantasy sports operate under the protection of Act 1075 of the 2017 regular session, the department noted. The law does not allow these operators to offer what it believes to be unlicensed sports betting.