FanDuel and CME Group Launch FanDuel Predicts, Bringing Event Trading to Mainstream Audiences
FanDuel and CME Group have unveiled FanDuel Predicts, a new mobile platform designed to let U.S. customers trade on the outcomes of major financial, economic, cultural, and sports events. The launch marks a notable convergence between online gaming and regulated derivatives markets, opening prediction-style trading to a far broader audience than traditional futures and options platforms.
The initial rollout begins in Alabama, Alaska, South Carolina, North Dakota, and South Dakota, with a phased national expansion planned over the coming months and into ahead 2026. FanDuel Predicts will be available via the Apple App Store and Google Play, integrating FanDuel’s existing identity verification and compliance infrastructure.
A New Way to Trade on Headlines
FanDuel Predicts allows customers to express a view on real-world outcomes by purchaseing or tradeing event contracts tied to future events. Contracts are priced between $0.01 and $0.99, with users selecting “Yes” if they believe an event will occur or “No” if they believe it will not.
The platform is designed to feel intuitive for existing FanDuel users while introducing concepts drawn from prediction markets and derivatives trading. By keeping contract pricing simple and transparent, the app lowers the barrier to entry for users who may have never interacted with before.
To access the platform, customers must complete a full Know Your Customer (KYC) process, including submission of a birth date, Social Security number, home address, banking details, and a government-issued ID. This mirrors the onboarding standards used across regulated financial markets and reflects CME Group’s involvement as the underlying derivatives marketplace.
Financial, Economic, and Sports Markets in One App
FanDuel Predicts will initially offer event contracts tied to a wide range of benchmarks and indicators. These include major equity indices such as the S&P , commodity prices for oil, gas, and gold, cryptocurrency benchmarks, and macroeconomic indicators such as GDP and CPI.
Beyond financial markets, the platform will also across baseball, basketball, football, and hockey in states where online sports betting is not yet legal, excluding tribal lands. As states move to legalize online sports betting, FanDuel Predicts will withdraw sports event contracts in those jurisdictions, maintaining a clear separation between prediction-style trading and regulated sports wagering.
Strategic Goals for FanDuel and CME Group
For FanDuel, the launch represents an expansion beyond traditional sports betting and gaming into adjacent financial engagement. James Cooper, Senior Vice President of Flywheel and New Ventures at FanDuel, said the new platform gives customers a way to engage with the world’s largegest stories, from Federal Reserve decisions to major sporting outcomes.
“This launch in five states will provide valuable insights into customer engagement with this new platform, enabling us to refine our approach as we expand to additional states in 2026,” Cooper said.
For CME Group, the partnership offers a pathway to reach a vastly larger audience than traditional derivatives platforms typically serve. By embedding CME-backed prediction markets into FanDuel’s consumer ecosystem, the platform operator is effectively testing how simplified event contracts resonate with mainstream users.
Lynne Fitzpatrick, President and Chief Financial Officer of CME Group, described the launch as a pivotal step in expanding the reach of CME products, enabling a new generation of users to express views on global benchmarks, economic indicators, and more.
Consumer Protection and Responsible Participation
FanDuel has emphasized that consumer protection standards applied across its gaming platforms will also extend to FanDuel Predicts. At launch, users will be able to set deposit limits, receive deposit alerts, or self-exclude entirely if needed.
The platform will also provide access to mental health and responsible gaming support services through Kindbridge Behavioral Health. These measures reflect growing regulatory and public scrutiny around the intersection of gaming mechanics and financial products, particularly when simplified trading tools are offered to retail audiences.
The integration of robust secureguards is likely to be critical as prediction markets attract users who may be engaging with financial-style risk for the first time.
Implications for Prediction Markets in the U.S.
The launch of FanDuel Predicts comes amid rising interest in prediction markets as tools for price discovery, sentiment analysis, and user engagement. Historically, these markets have been confined to niche platforms or institutional participants. By bringing event , FanDuel and CME Group are testing whether prediction markets can scale to mass-market adoption.
The initiative also highlights a broader trend: regulated platforms and fintech platforms are increasingly exploring simplified, outcome-based products as a way to engage retail users without exposing them to the complexity of .
If successful, FanDuel Predicts could influence how platforms, brokers, and gaming platforms think about the future of event-based markets, potentially accelerating innovation at the intersection of finance, data, and consumer engagement.
Looking Ahead
The rollout of FanDuel Predicts will continue across additional states through ahead 2026, with expansion dependent on regulatory considerations and user adoption. As the platform scales, both FanDuel and CME Group will be closely watching how customers interact with event contracts across financial, economic, and sports categories.
At a time when headlines move markets quicker than ever, FanDuel Predicts represents a bold experiment in democratizing how individuals engage with future outcomes—bringing prediction markets from the trading floor to the smartphone.
