Betr acquires Ascent Capital Management to power prediction markets
Sports betting startup Betr has acquired Ascent Capital Management to add prediction markets to its mobile app, with the product powered by Polymarket's infrastructure. The deal, announced May 23, gives Betr a regulated entry point into event-contract trading through an existing provider rather than building its own compliance and market-making stack from scratch. No financial terms were disclosed. Betr, described as a real-money gaming operator, will use the acquisition to fast-track its launch of prediction-market contracts in the regulated US market. The move leverages Ascent Capital Management's existing regulatory infrastructure to accelerate what would otherwise be a lengthy build-and-approval process.
Betr's purchase puts it on a faster launch timeline than Sporttrade, whose DCM application remains stuck in the CFTC queue. The deal gives Kalshi a new well-funded competitor with an existing million-user base before the NFL season starts.
Betr joins Polymarket, Kalshi, and Sporttrade in the race for CFTC-licensed prediction market share, becoming the fourth major platform to stake a position in the regulated event-contract space this year.