DraftKings Predictions review

DraftKings Predictions is DraftKings' CFTC-regulated event-contracts product, launched December 19, 2025 and now part of its Super App. It's open in 48 states, but sports contracts are only offered where DraftKings doesn't run an online sportsbook.

DraftKings Predictions is DraftKings’ federally regulated prediction market: you buy $1 event contracts on sports and financial outcomes inside the DraftKings app. As of October 2026 it’s available in 48 states. The big catch is that sports contracts are offered in only about 18 of them, mostly where DraftKings doesn’t run an online sportsbook.

What DraftKings Predictions is

DraftKings launched Predictions on December 19, 2025 as “a new standalone mobile app and web product,” according to its fiscal 2025 annual report (Form 10-K). The legal set-up has layers:

• The broker: DraftKings’ subsidiary GUS III, LLC, doing business as DraftKings Predictions, “is registered with the CFTC as an introducing broker (‘IB’) and is a member of the National Futures Association.” In fiscal 2025 DraftKings said it “does not execute trades, hold customer funds, or assume risk related to event-based contract outcomes.”
• The exchanges: at launch, contracts listed on CME and Crypto.com | Derivatives North America, with Wedbush Securities as futures commission merchant.
• DraftKings’ own exchange: DraftKings agreed on October 21, 2025 to buy Railbird Exchange, which the CFTC designated a contract market on June 13, 2025. Total consideration was $84.8 million, plus contingent payments of up to $200 million, per its Q2 2026 10-Q. Railbird now trades as DKeX, and in August 2026 it certified football contracts with the CFTC.

DraftKings has since folded Predictions into its Super App, which it said in its Q2 2026 results “is now live nationwide.” Growth has been fast: in a June 2026 filing DraftKings reported May 2026 annualized consumer volume of $1.3 billion and annualized total volume of $3.1 billion. Both figures were described as preliminary and unaudited.

How it works

Each contract pays $1 if the outcome happens and $0 if not, with prices in one-cent steps (DKeX’s filings allow finer ticks). Prices are shown as percentages: after app version 5.54, DraftKings’ help centre says prediction markets “default to Percentage Odds” and American odds aren’t available. Markets cover sports and financial outcomes. DraftKings’ Q1 2026 release said it was bringing combos (parlay-style contracts) to the product.

Where DraftKings Predictions is available

DraftKings lists 48 states. It excludes Maine and New Hampshire and isn’t available on tribal land. But what you can trade varies by state, and DraftKings’ own July 2026 availability map splits states into four groups:

The pattern matches DraftKings’ licences: states marked “all markets” are mostly ones without legal online sports betting, such as California, Texas, Florida and Georgia. States where DraftKings Sportsbook operates online, such as Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, show no sports contracts. DraftKings hasn’t published a policy statement explaining this, but its gaming licences are a likely reason. The Nevada Gaming Control Board, for example, said in November 2025 that it had accepted DraftKings’ withdrawal of its pending Nevada applications, and stated that FanDuel and DraftKings “intend to engage in unlawful activities related to sports event contracts.” Always check the app for your location before you fund.

DraftKings Predictions fees

DraftKings’ Predictions terms describe two layers of fees: a $0.01 DraftKings fee per contract (bought or sold), plus an exchange fee set by whichever exchange lists the contract, with the current amounts in a linked fee disclosure. We read these terms through a search-engine copy because the live page blocks automated access, so confirm the exact fees on the trade ticket before you trade.

For comparison, a Kalshi taker pays 0.07 × contracts × price × (1 − price), which is $1.75 on 100 contracts at 50¢ (see our Kalshi fees guide). DraftKings’ $0.01 is $1.00 on the same 100 contracts before exchange fees, so which is cheaper depends on the exchange fee and the price.

Account, age and sign-up

You trade from your existing DraftKings account, so the identity checks you passed for DraftKings carry over. DraftKings’ terms require you to be 18+ (“higher age limits may apply in some states”) and physically located in an eligible state. Earlier in 2026 DraftKings ran new-customer offers paid in non-withdrawable “Predictions Dollars.” We couldn’t confirm a live offer as of October 17, 2026, so check the app’s promotions tab. We don’t publish codes.

Legal challenges

Beyond the state licensing tension, DraftKings disclosed private lawsuits in its Q2 2026 10-Q. Two class actions in federal court in Massachusetts (filed July 28 and August 3, 2026) and one case in South Carolina state court (filed July 29, 2026) allege that its sports event contracts are illegal gambling in the states where they’re offered. Our legality tracker follows the wider state-versus-CFTC fight.

Kalshi vs DraftKings Predictions

Our take: Kalshi is the better prediction market on its own terms. It has more markets, more states with sports, and a fee formula you can check before trading. DraftKings Predictions makes sense if you already live in the DraftKings app and you’re in one of the roughly 18 states where it offers sports.

Our verdict on DraftKings Predictions

Score: 7.3 / 10. DraftKings brings a huge customer base, a public-company balance sheet and its own CFTC-designated exchange to prediction markets. But for most sports fans in sportsbook states it’s a financial-markets product only, its fees are less transparent than Kalshi’s or Novig’s, and it faces fresh lawsuits. Compare it with Kalshi and Polymarket before choosing. Visit DraftKings.

Figures as of October 2026 and subject to change. Scores reflect our editorial methodology, weighted for US traders. Not financial or betting advice.

18+ (21+ where required). Prediction markets involve risk of loss — only trade what you can afford to lose. Gambling problem? Call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (National Problem Gambling Helpline, 24/7).