DraftKings significantly expanded its prediction market platform’s offering in time for Super Bowl LX, adding a range of event contracts including player prop-style markets from Crypto.com.
The companies announced on Friday, Feb. 6, a new partnership that will expand the range of prediction markets available on the operator’s standalone DraftKings Predictions platform. DraftKings launched player-specific sports event contracts for the first time, adding those markets for both the NFL and NBA. Those contracts offer “yes” or “no” options on a range of player performance metrics, similar to player prop wagers.
The firms said that as well as broadening DraftKings’ sports predictions offering, the deal also establishes the foundation for DraftKings Predictions to add more categories via Crypto.com in the future, including culture, entertainment and politics.
DraftKings doubles down on predictions
DraftKings Predictions launched in December with sports and financial markets provided by CME Group, its rival FanDuel’s partner on FanDuel Predicts. It debuted in 38 states, including major states where state-regulated sports betting is not legal, such as California, Texas and Georgia.
As of the time of writing, the platform offers sports contracts in 17 states and has some kind of operational presence in every U.S. state other than Maine, New Hampshire and Ohio.
It already offered sports markets like over/unders and points spreads. Now, it has beefed up its sports contracts slate by adding a host of Crypto.com markets across soccer, MMA, golf, boxing, tennis and the Olympic Games, in states where the product is available.
“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,” said DraftKings Predictions Senior Vice President and General Manager Jeanine Hightower-Sellitto. “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.”
“Connecting with DraftKings, a household name in sports, is an important milestone for us because it allows us to not only expand access to prediction markets in sports, but it grows our distribution to prediction markets on cryptocurrencies, financials, companies, politics, culture, entertainment and beyond,” said Crypto.com Global Head of Predictions Travis McGhee.
DraftKings still yet to integrate Railbird
DraftKings’ entry into offering prediction markets was facilitated by its acquisition of Railbird, an exchange that had just received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). DraftKings is registered as an Introducing Broker (IB), a status that allows it to partner with various registered exchanges.
Although it offers contracts from CME Group and Crypto.com, it has yet to actually integrate Railbird, its pathway into the vertical. The announcement of the Crypto.com addition noted that DraftKings Predictions will integrate Railbird in the coming months, further strengthening its offering.
Crypto.com expands partners, limits sports footprint
By partnering with DraftKings, Crypto.com has added yet another leading gaming operators its roster of sports event contract partners. It has supplied sports markets to Underdog since last summer and is Fanatics Betting and Gaming’s partner for Fanatics Markets. It also has event contracts deals with non-gaming entities, like Hollywood.com and President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform.
Last week, it announced the launch of a standalone ‘OG’ platform, “a sports-focused social prediction market platform” that hosts a range of sports and non-sports markets, including parlay-style contracts. The new product also includes peer-to-peer engagement and some social media-style features and a VIP program leveraging Crypto.com’s sports and entertainment partners such as Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the UFC, the UEFA Champions League and Formula 1.
Although Crypto.com keeps expanding its predictions presence, its sports markets are not available in all states. The company confirmed to SBC Americas in mid-December that, as of that time, it did not have sports markets live in Arizona, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey, Nevada or Ohio.
SBC Americas reached out to Crypto.com seeking confirmation on its current sports footprint after the announcement of the DraftKings deal.
