The challenge
The rules change from state to state
Based on user feedback, Sleeper set out to launch DFS contests that offered a sense of community, similar to season-long fantasy leagues, with the opportunity for players to win real money. But entering the regulated DFS market presented challenges.
As DFS and contest-of-skill laws vary state by state, Sleeper needed a robust location compliance solution. To obtain the required licenses, Sleeper had to reliably verify user locations within sanctioned boundaries and prevent contest entries from outside state lines — including detecting attempts to circumvent restrictions through network proxies, location spoofing, and other unauthorized means.
While Sleeper takes pride in its developer-first culture, the opportunity costs of building these capabilities internally were too high. Alternative providers were expensive, challenging to integrate, and slow to respond, while Radar offered a proven product, simple integration, and unparalleled support at a fraction of the cost.
The solution
A compliance stack assembled in a few lines of code
Sleeper uses Radar to verify player locations and determine eligibility for its DFS contests. Radar's technology processes over 100 billion API calls per year and has been validated by Gaming Labs International (GLI) to support location compliance.
With just a few lines of code, Sleeper installed Radar's React Native SDK to enable precise location detection. Sleeper uses Radar Regions and Fraud to verify the state a player is in: Regions leverages Radar's admin boundary database to determine the country and state associated with a location update, while Fraud detects suspicious activity like GPS spoofing, proxy and VPN usage, and device tampering. The Radar dashboard gave Sleeper the visibility it needed to test and launch quickly, with prebuilt regional boundaries, user-level data, and event details.
The results
The audit passed, and the contests launched on time
Within a two-month period, Sleeper completed development of its Radar-powered compliance solution. After passing 100% of the location checks in an independent audit, Sleeper began obtaining the necessary licenses to launch its first DFS contests on time.
Today, Sleeper Picks and Daily Drafts are favorites among users and a core revenue driver for the business. With nearly 16% of entry attempts detected in restricted states and 2% of locations flagged with a fraud indicator, accurate location verification is critical for Sleeper's success. As Sleeper expands its games offering, Radar will remain a trusted partner to ensure compliance, prevent fraud, and provide engaging user experiences.
