DraftKings has officially thrown its hat into the ring for “predictions” online gambling.
DraftKings announced Tuesday the acquisition of Railbird Technologies and its wholly owned subsidiary, Railbird Exchange, LLC, a federally licensed exchange designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The company, which did not announce a price tag for the acquisition, said the deal is part of its “broader strategy to enter prediction markets.”
The company said it plans to launch a product called DraftKings Predictions “as a mobile application in the coming months.”
The acquisition is an effort to compete with nascent prediction gambling platforms Kalshi and Polymarket. Numerous states have accused Kalshi of being an illegal online sportsbook.
What is ‘DraftKings Predictions’?
The gambling platform will allow “yes/no” gambling on “real-world outcomes across finance, culture, and entertainment,” the Boston-based company said.
“We are excited about the additional opportunity that prediction markets could represent for our business,” said Jason Robins, CEO and co-founder of DraftKings. “We believe that Railbird’s team and platform—combined with DraftKings’ scale, trusted brand, and proven expertise in mobile-first products—positions us to win in this incremental space.”
DraftKings did not say where its prediction platform will be available.
According to Dustin Gouker, a gaming industry consultant and author of The Closing Line newsletter, DraftKings could launch its predictions product in one of the states in which it doesn’t offer sports betting.
“It seems pretty clear that DraftKings will launch late Q4 or early Q1, and that sports is likely to be included,” Gouker said. “DraftKings almost certainly will only launch in states where it doesn’t currently offer sports betting. And I don’t think DraftKings will put any licenses at risk when it goes live.”
Under what numerous states have called a legal loophole, Kalshi has offered nationwide gambling on sports and so-called real-world events. As of October, Polymarket was working toward launching its U.S.-facing gambling platform.
Despite the fledgling nature of prediction-style gambling, Kalshi has a valuation of $5 billion, and Polymarket has a valuation of $9 billion, after recent funding rounds.
DraftKings’ market cap was about $16.7 billion at the time of writing.
Gambling Harm Implications
Online gambling addiction has soared in recent years after the spread of online casinos and sports betting nationwide. DraftKings is a giant in the sector that siphoned more than $22.1 billion from Americans in 2024.
Prediction-style gambling ups the ante at a time when states and the federal government have yet to address the U.S. online gambling crisis.
Like Kalshi and Polymarket, DraftKings has used the euphemism “trading” to refer to prediction-style online gambling.
In a November 2025 shareholder letter, DraftKings used the term “responsible engagement” in reference to potential addiction on DraftKings Predictions.
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