Sports betting giant FanDuel has announced a partnership with derivatives marketplace CME Group to create a new joint venture aimed at launching an event contracts platform. The initiative will allow users to place simple, fully-funded yes-or-no wagers on financial market events, beginning with trades for as little as $1.
FanDuel customers in the US will gain access to straightforward event-based contracts focused on major financial and economic indicators. These include the S&P 500 index or gold prices hitting certain levels. Users will also be able to wager on outcomes of key economic indicators, including the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Access to financial predictions for the everyday user
“Individual investors are increasingly sophisticated and continually pursuing new financial opportunities,” said Terry Duffy, CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “To meet this demand, we have created this innovative partnership, which will operate a non-clearing FCM. Together, our event-based products will appeal to the growing public interest in markets, and we will provide education to attract a new generation of potential traders not active in derivatives today.”
Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel Group said, “Partnering with CME Group will unlock our ability to bring even more new and engaging products to FanDuel’s fast-growing customer base.
“We believe there is potentially a wide audience for trading event-based markets and we want to provide a platform that allows our customers to engage in this activity. We are excited to be partnering with CME Group to design new and engaging products, combining innovation with best-in-class regulatory compliance and consumer protections.”
Sportsbooks eye prediction markets
FanDuel is not alone in recognising the value of event-based markets. Platforms such as Kalshi, Robinhood, and Polymarket have already explored this space, catering to users interested in binary outcome contracts based on real-world events.
Meanwhile, FanDuel rival DraftKings was reportedly in talks to acquire Railbird Exchange, a newly federally licenced prediction market platform based in the United States. The details of the reported deal are still under wraps. A company spokesperson told SiGMA News, “DraftKings speaks to a variety of companies regarding various matters in the normal course of business, and it is our general policy not to comment on the specifics of any of those discussions.”
The company previously applied for a federal licence to operate its own prediction market, only to quietly withdraw in April. At the time, a spokesperson was quoted as saying, “DraftKings continues to monitor developments related to prediction markets as an emerging product that reflects evolving consumer engagement and warrants thoughtful consideration.”
FanDuel’s attempts to enter prediction markets
The FanDuel-CME partnership aims to form a non-clearing Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), offering retail investors a new way to engage in market predictions. The new entity will be co-operated by FanDuel and CME Group and is expected to go live later this year, pending regulatory review by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
In June, Front Office Sports reported that Kalshi has begun exploratory talks with FanDuel. A partnership would have allowed Kalshi to move beyond its current binary model of simple yes/no contracts and into more traditional sports betting formats. “It’s only a matter of time until parlays, point spreads, over/unders, and eventually player props are available,” Front Office Sports had commented.
