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If you’ve ever looked at a star quarterback and thought, “I wish I could buy stock in his performance,” DraftKings has made your wish a reality. By partnering with Crypto.com’s Derivatives North America exchange, DraftKings Predictions is rolling out the first-ever player-specific event contracts for the NFL and NBA.
This isn’t a standard sportsbook prop bet; it’s a binary “yes” or “no” contract on specific player stats. Because these are traded on a CFTC-regulated exchange, the prices act just like shares on a stock market—they go up and down based on what the rest of the world thinks is going to happen. You can buy a “Yes” on a player hitting a certain yardage and sell it for a profit ten minutes later if he breaks off a huge run. It’s high-speed, analytical, and honestly, a bit of a rush.
The Secret “end run” into Big States
There’s a reason DraftKings is pushing this so hard in places like California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia. In these states, traditional online sports betting is still a no-go.
However, because these prediction markets are federally regulated event contracts (think “financial products” rather than “casino games”), DraftKings can circumvent existing regulations and offer sports-adjacent action to millions of people who were previously locked out.
While everyone else is waiting for state legislatures to change their minds, DraftKings is using its Crypto.com partnership to enter some of the biggest markets in the country.
According to Travis McGhee, Global Head of Predictions at Crypto.com, this partnership is much more than just a sports hookup.
“Crypto.com continues to lead the way with innovative collaboration. 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 also grows our distribution to prediction markets on cryptocurrencies, financials, companies, politics, culture, entertainment, and beyond. We are thrilled to work with DraftKings, and we look forward to creating an engaging experience together for customers across the country.”
Trading Everything: What’s in Store
While they’re starting with the NFL and NBA, the plan is to use Crypto.com’s tech to move into culture, entertainment, and politics. We’re talking about trading on things like:
- Will a certain movie win an Oscar?
- Will a specific politician win their primary?
- Who’s going to be the next big viral sensation?
Jeanine Hightower-Sellitto, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of DraftKings Predictions, is basically building an ecosystem where you can trade on the outcome of anything that matters.
“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. 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,” said Hightower-Sellitto.
What’s Coming Next?
To make this all work, DraftKings isn’t just relying on one partner. They started with CME Group back in December.
In the next few months, they’re also bringing on board Railbird Exchange, which they recently acquired. The goal? A “multi-exchange” model. This ensures there’s always enough “liquidity” (meaning there’s always someone to buy the other side of your contract) so you aren’t stuck holding a “Yes” on a player whom nobody wants to buy.
