DraftKings has announced it has purchased Railbird Exchange, a largely dormant exchange that received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to offer prediction market trading back in June.
The acquisition, which was first rumored this summer, will allow DraftKings to offer prediction markets through a new product, DraftKings Predictions, a forthcoming mobile app set to launch “in the coming months.”
In a press release, the company said DraftKings Predictions “will have the flexibility to connect to multiple exchanges, enabling DraftKings to offer one of the broadest suites of markets to its customers.”
“We are excited about the additional opportunity that prediction markets could represent for our business,” said Jason Robins, DraftKings CEO, in the release. “We believe that Railbird’s team and platform—combined with DraftKings’ scale, trusted brand, and proven expertise in mobile-first products—positions us to win in this incremental space.”
UPDATE (Oct. 22, 2025): Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan announced on X that DraftKings Predictions will use Polymarket Clearing as the clearinghouse for its prediction markets. Polymarket acquired QC Clearing LLC when it purchased QCEX for $112 million over the summer. The acquisition of the designated contract market (DCM) and its clearinghouse cleared the path for Polymarket to re-enter the U.S. market as a CFTC-regulated platform.
DraftKings Predictions will not initially offer sports prediction markets
The company says the Railbird acquisition will let DraftKings users trade event contracts “across finance, culture, and entertainment,” but does not mention sports event contracts, which it could now also offer. DraftKings says its prediction offerings “may expand” to other categories over time.
Like other sports betting operators, DraftKings has been coy about a possible entry into prediction markets, likely due to its possible impact on the status of their sports gaming, DFS and iCasino licenses in certain markets. State regulators in Ohio, Arizona, Michigan and Nevada have sent licensed operators in their states warnings that getting involved in sports prediction markets could impact the standing of their state-issued licenses for other products.
Several states with legal sports betting have been battling prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Crypto in court over their ability to offer sports event contracts in their jurisdictions.
Railbird acquisition comes amidst rapid sports prediction market growth
The news of DraftKings’ Railbird acquisition comes after some sports betting operators experienced drops in their stock value in the wake of rapid growth of sports prediction markets on platforms like Kalshi.
Chris Grove of Eilers & Krejcik, a leading gaming industry research and consulting firm, gave a prediction markets-focused industry briefing on the opening day of the recent G2E conference in Las Vegas. Grove, who noted that prediction markets currently have “unique access to mindshare” and “narrative momentum,” warned that the “wait-and-see” attitude towards prediction markets most sportsbooks were taking “is looking more costly by the day.”
In August, Robins said DraftKings was taking a “measured approach” to prediction markets, keeping a close eye on the court developments related to sports event contracts.
“We’re evaluating,” Robins said at the time. “Obviously we have a lot of stakeholders, state regulators, relationships with tribes, others that we want to make sure we consider as we think about what our different options are.”
FanDuel, DraftKings largest competitor in the U.S., announced a partnership with CME Group in August that would allow the sportsbook operator to offer “new fully funded, event-based contracts.” Like DraftKings, FanDuel didn’t mention sports event contracts in its CME Group announcement, instead saying the venture would focus on financial and economic markets initially. But analysts have recently said that FanDuel could begin offering sports prediction markets by as soon as the end of this year.
