Cheng Xin | Getty Photos Information | Getty Photos
DraftKings is buying predictions platform Railbird because it prepares to launch a cell platform within the coming months to be known as DraftKings Predictions.
Railbird is licensed by the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee to supply an occasion contracts change. DraftKings focused the corporate for its staff and proprietary expertise.
“We’re excited in regards to the extra alternative that prediction markets may characterize for our enterprise,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins stated in a press release to CNBC. “We consider that Railbird’s staff and platform—mixed with DraftKings’ scale, trusted model, and confirmed experience in mobile-first merchandise—positions us to win on this incremental house.”
Predictions markets enable clients to commerce on the outcomes of assorted occasions within the worlds of finance, tradition and leisure, which is able to enable DraftKings to broaden past its sports activities betting enterprise. The markets on election outcomes and sports activities are probably the most controversial.
Dozens of states, their gaming regulators and tribes are suing or taking different actions to attempt to prohibit firms from providing trades based mostly on sporting occasions, as a result of they see it as unlicensed playing.
Nevada is among the many states warning that firms danger dropping their playing licenses if they provide sports activities of their prediction markets.
If DraftKings presents sports activities occasions contracts, it is prone to focus solely on states that do not supply licensed sports activities betting, like California and Texas, to keep away from operating afoul of the states the place it presents sports activities betting. Moreover, expertise exists to forestall these sports activities trades from being out there on tribal lands.
DraftKings additionally could supply extra superior “know your buyer” guardrails, a time period generally used to reference identification verification, given its expertise within the regulated playing market.
