CME and FanDuel scale back joint prediction market venture
CME Group Inc. and FanDuel are scaling back their joint prediction-market venture after it failed to gain traction, according to Bloomberg. The partnership has begun using Crypto.com's Nadex exchange in addition to CME's infrastructure, Sportico reported. The pullback comes as rivals including Kalshi and Polymarket advance in the event-contract space. Flutter, FanDuel's parent company, has seen its stock decline roughly 70% over the past 12 months.
The restructuring confirms that FanDuel Predicts is now a user-acquisition channel for the core sportsbook, not a standalone profit engine. By shifting contracts to Crypto.com's Nadex rails, Flutter is renting regulatory infrastructure rather than building or owning it. That keeps capital commitments low but leaves FanDuel Predicts vulnerable if Crypto.com renegotiates terms or if Congress restricts sports event contracts.
The mirror strategy at Robinhood—also talking to Crypto.com and Kalshi—shows the whole class of sportsbook-linked prediction products is converging on the same outsourced-regulatory model. FanDuel must convert free prediction users into paying bettors before state betting windows open, or the economics collapse. Meanwhile, Fanatics and IG Group are buying their own clearing stacks, betting that owned infrastructure will outrun rented rails when the regulatory floor shifts.
Joins recent moves by Fanatics and IG Group in a broader shift by sportsbook incumbents away from white-label exchange partnerships and toward owned or restructured regulatory infrastructure.