DraftKings Predictions to Offer NFL, NBA Player Markets Through Pact with Crypto.com
Deal allows DraftKings to expand sports catalog on its prediction market platform ahead of the Super Bowl and NBA Playoffs.
Just in time for Sunday’s Super Bowl, DraftKings’ emerging prediction market platform now offers contracts on “player-specific” events, thanks to a deal with Crypto.com, the Boston-based gaming company announced late Friday afternoon.
The agreement means NFL and NBA player markets are available on DraftKings Predictions, giving traders access to such offerings in states like California, Georgia, and Texas, which have yet to legalize sports betting. It also gives the platform the opportunity to expand into other categories, such as political and entertainment-based events, with the futures exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
We’re continuing to build momentum behind DraftKings Predictions by leveraging our expertise across sports and technology and integrating additional CFTC-regulated exchanges like Crypto.com,” Jeanine Hightower-Sellitto, the senior vice president and general manager for DraftKings Predictions, said in a statement. “This collaboration meaningfully expands customer access to trade on sports and a broader range of prediction markets and also reinforces our focus on delivering a more comprehensive and engaging experience as the product continues to evolve.”
Prior to the agreement with Crypto.com, DraftKings Predictions limited its sports catalog mainly to point spreads, point totals, and game/event winners. Crypto.com is the latest partner for DraftKings in the prediction market space. CME Group also serves as a partner.
DraftKings also purchased Railbird Exchange in October and will incorporate the acquired platform into its prediction market in the near future.
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Prediction Markets vs. Sportsbooks
Prediction markets work in a similar fashion to sportsbooks. The key difference is that prediction markets require traders to take both sides of an offer. For example, if someone wanted to bet on New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl, they could place an order for a contract on a prediction market platform, but it would require another trader buying the opposite prediction, Maye not scoring, at the corresponding price. Sportsbooks, on the other hand, assume the risk of the bettor’s wager.
In an interview on Bloomberg Television, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said Friday the company’s platform uses several market makers to establish prices for contracts on the exchange.
“We are also standing up our own market maker for prediction markets,” he added.
In addition, the CFTC, a federal agency, regulates prediction markets. States, on the other hand, oversee sports betting. Currently, that is legal in 39 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
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States Challenge Prediction Market Foray into Sports
While prediction markets have been around for years, attention to them has increased substantially since operators like Crypto.com and Kalshi began offering contracts on sports events early last year.
DraftKings is not the only sports betting operator to enter the prediction market sector. FanDuel and Fanatics have also introduced their own platforms, while Underdog Sports has chosen to forego seeking sports betting licenses to concentrate on its prediction market offering.
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While the market has grown substantially over the past year, there has been increased scrutiny. Several states, including Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New Jersey, have sued operators to block them from offering contracts for sporting events in their states.
While Kalshi and the like offer their sports markets across the country, the sportsbooks have taken steps to limit their prediction market sports catalog to states where they are not licensed sports betting operators.
Prediction markets represent a great way to help meet that consumer demand, and we’re really excited to be doing that for the Super Bowl,” Robins told Bloomberg.
New CFTC Chairman Michael Selig has come out in support of operators offering contracts. That said, federal law for years has indicated that operators cannot offer markets tied to gaming, and sporting events have fallen under that definition.
Most in the gaming industry expect that either the U.S. Supreme Court or Congress will render the final decision on whether prediction markets can continue to offer sports markets. That may not happen, though, until 2027 or later.
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