Along with Q3 earnings, FanDuel announced on Wednesday the company’s plans to debut FanDuel Predicts as a standalone app in December. In addition to a number of sports event contracts, FanDuel’s new prediction market app will also offer markets related to economic indicators and commodity prices.
The news follows FanDuel’s Aug. 20th announcement that they were partnering with CME Group to offer prediction markets. As part of the deal, FanDuel will serve as the non-clearing Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), essentially hosting CME Group’s markets, similar to how Robinhood offers its customers markets that originate on Kalshi. FanDuel CEO Amy Howe said in the press release announcing the FanDuel Predicts launch plans:
“We can’t wait to bring FanDuel’s proven approach to product innovation into this dynamic sector. Our partnership with CME Group allows us to leverage their deep market expertise built over decades while delivering the seamless, accessible and trusted experience our customers expect.”
The FanDuel prediction markets app is a clear win for CME Group as well, granting the derivatives marketplace instant access to FanDuel’s extensive user base.
“Our new event contracts on benchmarks, economic indicators and now sports will appeal to a new generation of potential participants who are not active in these markets today,” said CME Group Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy. “This launch will dramatically expand our distribution and reach, connecting directly with FanDuel’s millions of registered U.S. users.”
Meanwhile, DraftKings is also planning to launch their prediction market product, DraftKings Predictions, in the “coming months.” That means both sports betting giants could enter the red-hot prediction markets space within weeks of one another.
FanDuel Predicts launch plans and app details
FanDuel Predicts plans to launch with the following markets:
- Sports including baseball, basketball, football, and hockey
- Stock market benchmarks like S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100
- Commodity prices including oil and gas, gold, and cryptocurrencies
- Key economic indicators including GDP and CPI
With heat on from state regulators, FanDuel/Flutter and DraftKings have to toe the line carefully regarding their entries into prediction markets. Which helps explain the following FanDuel Predicts details:
Sports event contracts will only be available in states where sports betting is not yet legal
In Flutter’s Q3 earnings update, Flutter CEO Peter Jackson wrote in a note to shareholders:
“FanDuel Predicts unlocks an immediate growth opportunity by allowing us to offer a compelling sports product to the vast majority of the US adult population in states that do not currently have access to sports betting. This represents a significant incremental addressable market for FanDuel in addition to our existing sportsbook and iGaming business. We believe this new sports opportunity lies solely in these states, as prediction markets are having a negligible impact in the states where FanDuel sportsbook is already available to customers.”
The decision to keep the product out of legal sports betting states should also help insulate FanDuel from penalization from state gaming entities, a handful of which have already threatened potential danger of existing and future gaming licenses.
No FanDuel Predicts on tribal lands
Again, FanDuel (and other regulated OSB operators) are motivated to maintain good standing with state regulators as well as other potential liaisons in the expansion of sports betting. In a state like California, the future potential of legal online sports betting depends heavily on tribal stakeholders, many of which are currently fighting in court to exclude prediction market exchanges from operating on tribal lands.
FanDuel’s decision to geo-exclude Native American reservations up front is a preemptive gesture that could certainly go a long way towards staying in tribal gaming powers’ good graces.
Consumer protection safeguards transfer over from online sports betting
When it comes to sports betting, FanDuel and DraftKings are leaders in responsible gaming messaging and in-app tools to curb problem gambling risks associated with gambling online. Considering that responsible gambling, consumer protection, and game integrity concerns have been key worries voiced from gaming regulators and leagues regarding sports event contracts, it’s a no brainer for FanDuel to transfer such safeguards and make this a point of emphasis.
“FanDuel will extend its industry-leading consumer protection program to the FanDuel Predicts app,” reads the press release. “The platform will empower customers to trade responsibly with tools to help manage exposure, track spending and make informed trading decisions. Within the app, customers will find educational resources to learn about prediction markets and how to buy and sell event contracts. Customers may set deposit limits and deposit alerts that apply to all FanDuel products and may self-exclude, just as they can on all FanDuel products today.”
To be clear, FanDuel won’t be the first prediction market to implement responsible gaming and integrity safeguards. Kalshi, for example, has a consumer protection hub and partners with IC360 for sports integrity monitoring, in addition to adhering to other CFTC compliance standards. But the additional mechanisms and customer tools from FanDuel are not just helpful for consumer protection; they’re also strong PR plays.
Wonder what the odds are of Kalshi launching some new feature for their consumer protection hub ahead of the NFL season.
First platform that prompts traders when they spend outside their usual budget, which is not a standard US sportsbook feature, will score a huge PR win https://t.co/Yazqk7t3t5
— Chris Gerlacher (@GerlacherC) August 20, 2025
Race into prediction markets heating up for FanDuel, DraftKings
The race for sports-centric companies into prediction markets has entered a full-out sprint. DFS app Underdog is already live with some Crypto.com prediction markets, and PrizePicks is launching markets from Polymarket this week.
And of course, the two top dogs in DFS and sports betting are hot on their heels. Barring any unexpected delays, FanDuel Predicts will be live in December ahead of the start of NFL playoffs on Jan. 10. DraftKings is undoubtedly aiming for a similar timeline, though Polymarket traders are putting the chances of DraftKings Predictions live by end of year at slightly less than a coinflip at this point.
Also noteworthy, DraftKings is taking a different approach than FanDuel, opting to acquire CFTC-approved Railbird Exchange and operate as a Designated Contract Market (DCM). Rather than providing their own clearinghouse, however, DraftKings will use Polymarket Clearing. Here’s why that matters.
Regardless of the path, DraftKings and FanDuel/Flutter executives are touting their strategic positioning to capitalize on the prediction market opportunity and compete and even “win” in the space.
FanDuel and DraftKings ready to win in prediction markets
“The opportunity to extend the FanDuel footprint into new states is significant and our aspiration is to be the clear market leader,” Flutter CEO Jackson wrote in the Q3 report.
Similarly, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins wrote in a letter to shareholders last week:
“We will pursue this opportunity, we will compete, and we will win. For the same reasons that we have been successful competing in the sports betting industry, we expect to succeed here.”
Meanwhile, both companies continue to emphasize:
- Their continued prioritization of existing verticals and products operating under state regulatory frameworks
- Mindfulness of other stakeholders, and
- Disciplined investment approaches to their respective prediction market plays
To the investment point, Robins stated: “We will be measured in our investment level, understanding that gross profit payback periods need to be shorter relative to our more established product lines, where we have more predictability around what customers we acquire will be worth over time.”
And Jackson made a similar point:
“Our investment will therefore be meaningful, while maintaining a disciplined approach, a strategy which has served us so well since the inception of sports betting in the US.”
