The Arena
Art by Clark MillerSports Betting Everywhere: Prediction Markets Explode
As DraftKings, FanDuel and Coinbase jump on the prediction markets bandwagon, sports leagues are still figuring out what the explosion of betting upstarts will mean for them.
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have gained popularity in the U.S. by letting people bet on everything from elections to Oscar winners to weather trends. But over the past year, a substantial portion of their wagers—and in Kalshi’s case the vast majority—have come from sports betting. And now traditional sportsbooks and crypto exchanges are crashing the prediction market party.
DraftKings, one of the two largest online sportsbooks in the U.S., launched its own prediction market yesterday, with rival FanDuel pledging to do the same this month. Crypto exchange Coinbase launched a prediction market on Wednesday, joining its peers Robinhood and Crypto.com, which introduced their own prediction markets in late 2024.