Fanatics Markets Goes Live in 10 States

Fanatics Markets, that company’s prediction markets platform, went live in 10 states on Wednesday, beating rivals DraftKings and FanDuel to event contracts punch in the process.

The debut of Fanatics Markets arrives about two weeks after the athletic apparel and sports wagering giant said it was partnering with Crypto.com — one of the first companies to offer sports event contracts — to roll out an event contracts platform in select states. The mobile application debuted today in Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah.

Fanatics Markets is uniquely positioned to bring prediction markets to the mainstream and will launch in two phases, according to the company. Phase One is live with event contracts for sports, finance, economics and politics. Phase Two, launching early next year, will expand into crypto, stocks and IPOs, climate, pop culture, tech and AI, movies and music.

Privately held Fanatics has been climbing the ranks in the US online sports wagering space, indicating it could be a formidable player in the sports event contracts space.

Expansion to California, Texas and Beyond

As noted above, Fanatics Markets launched today in 10 states, but that number will soon grow to 24, including expansion into California and Texas. That’s noteworthy not only because those are the two most populous states, but also because neither permits sports wagering.

Beyond California and Texas, Fanatics Markets will go live in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, and Wisconsin. That group is a mix of sports betting monopolies, states where Native American tribes control gaming expansion, and states that don’t currently allow sports betting.

It’s possible that Fanatics Markets will encounter legal challenges, as have other prediction market operators, in various states, particularly those with prominent tribal gaming operations. There are other regulatory issues to consider, too.

Regulators in multiple states have warned licensed sportsbooks that if they venture into event contracts, even if those states are avoided, they could jeopardize their permits in those jurisdictions.

Beating DraftKings and FanDuel to US Prediction Markets

In what could be a feather in the company’s cap, Fanatics beat sports wagering competitors DraftKings and FanDuel to the US prediction markets punch. FanDuel Predicts, a standalone mobile app, is expected to launch at some point this month, while a comparable DraftKings offering is due out in the coming months.

The Fanatics Markets app is now available on iOS and Android and allows users to trade contracts across sports, finance, economics, and politics, from whether a team will score more than 20 points to if the Federal Reserve will decrease interest rates, according to the statement.

In what’s likely just a coincidence, Fanatics Markets launched a day after Kalshi, the top prediction market by volume, landed $1 billion in financing and a deal with CNN.