By PredictQ Team // Updated: July 2026
On June 26, 2026, DraftKings stopped renting exchange infrastructure and started owning it. DKeX, the company’s proprietary CFTC-licensed exchange built on the Railbird acquisition, went live, and DraftKings Predictions contracts now trade on DraftKings’ own rails instead of routing through CME Group or Crypto.com. No other major sportsbook brand runs its own prediction markets exchange. That fact alone changes how you should read this review.
The pace since the December 19, 2025 launch has been relentless. Player props arrived in February. The product folded into the unified DraftKings: Sports & Casino app in the spring. Combos, the parlay-style multi-leg product, launched in mid-May, and DraftKings says more than 30% of its Predictions customers have already used it. Then came DKeX. For the week ended June 21, 2026, DraftKings reported roughly $3.4 billion in annualized consumer volume and about $11.3 billion in annualized total trading volume. CEO Jason Robins has said publicly the goal is a leadership position in sports predictions before year-end. The numbers suggest he means it.
Here’s what the platform looks like in July 2026: what you can trade, what it costs, where sports markets are actually available, and who should bother.
What DraftKings Predictions Is
DraftKings Predictions is a prediction market platform offering binary Yes/No event contracts on sports, financial, and macroeconomic outcomes. It runs under federal CFTC regulation rather than state gaming commissions, through its own legal entity (GUS III LLC d/b/a DraftKings Predictions), with contracts executing on DKeX.
Contracts price between $0.01 and $0.99, reflecting the market’s implied probability of each outcome. Winners settle at $1.00. Losers settle at $0.00. Same mechanics as Kalshi and Polymarket, different wrapper.
The snapshot:
Launched December 19, 2025
Operating entity: GUS III LLC, a CFTC-registered Introducing Broker and NFA member
Exchange: DKeX, DraftKings’ own CFTC-licensed exchange, live since June 26, 2026
Sports event contracts in 18 states; non-sports markets in most others; no access at all in Maine or New Hampshire
Fees: $0.01 or $0.02 per contract depending on price, no settlement fee
Welcome offer: Spend $5, Get $25 Instantly in Predictions Dollars
Age: 18+ (19 or 21 in some states)
Platforms: iOS, Android, and desktop web, via the standalone Predictions app or the unified DraftKings: Sports & Casino app
The DKeX Launch
This is the story of DraftKings Predictions in 2026. DraftKings acquired Railbird Technologies, a CFTC-approved exchange operator, in October 2025. For eight months, DraftKings Predictions ran on borrowed infrastructure: sports and economic contracts on CME Group, player props and Combos on Crypto.com Derivatives North America. That split is over. As of June 26, 2026, everything trades on DKeX.
Owning the exchange matters for three reasons. DraftKings now controls which markets get listed and how fast new ones ship. It keeps the exchange-level economics in house instead of paying a third party. And it removes the dependency risk of building a billion-dollar product on someone else’s pipes. Historically, Wedbush Securities served as the Futures Commission Merchant while orders routed to outside exchanges. Now the stack is DraftKings top to bottom.
The Regulatory Structure
The layering is simpler post-DKeX. DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) is the publicly traded parent, subject to SEC oversight with audited financials. GUS III LLC, the entity behind the consumer app, is a CFTC-registered Introducing Broker. DKeX is the CFTC-licensed exchange where contracts execute.
Note the Introducing Broker structure. DraftKings Predictions is an IB rather than a Futures Commission Merchant like Robinhood Derivatives or Underdog. FanDuel went the opposite direction: FanDuel Predicts is an FCM that routes to CME Group’s exchange. DraftKings is the only one of the big consumer brands that skipped straight to owning the exchange itself.
State Availability: Read This Before You Sign Up
Sports event contracts are live in 18 states as of the June 24, 2026 announcement, and only in states where DraftKings Sportsbook does not operate. That list includes California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia, the four biggest states without legal online sports betting.
The logic is deliberate. Where DraftKings has a state-licensed sportsbook, the sportsbook keeps the sports action and Predictions offers only non-sports markets (economics, finance, crypto, commodities). So a trader in New Jersey or Pennsylvania sees Fed decision markets and stock index contracts, but no NFL.
Non-sports markets are available in most of the country but not all of it. The platform is entirely unavailable in Maine and New Hampshire, and roughly ten states (Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania among them) get non-sports markets only. The app geolocates you and shows what you can trade, so eligibility sorts itself out at login.
Markets Available
Sports carry the product: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, college football and basketball, soccer, MMA, golf, boxing, tennis. Formats include moneylines, spreads, totals, player props, futures, and Combos. Financial markets cover stock indexes, commodities, and crypto prices. Economics covers Fed decisions, CPI prints, jobs data, and other macro releases.
No political markets. Culture and entertainment markets have been promised but haven’t shipped. Compared to Kalshi’s sprawling catalog or Polymarket’s political depth, DraftKings runs a curated menu built for mainstream sports fans, and that’s clearly intentional.
Combos
Combos launched in mid-May 2026 and adoption has been fast: over 30% of Predictions customers have placed one. The product works like a sportsbook parlay. Combine up to 6 event contracts in one trade, all legs must win, available on sports markets except futures. The launch was timed to the FIFA World Cup, which has been driving record volume across every prediction market platform this summer.
If you know how parlays treat casual bettors, you know how to treat Combos. Fun product, worst expected value on the platform.
Fees
DraftKings publishes a clean tiered commission: $0.01 per contract when the price is $0.01–$0.19 or $0.97–$0.99, and $0.02 per contract at $0.20–$0.96. No settlement fees, no deposit fees, no withdrawal fees. On a 100-contract position at $0.50, you pay $2.00 to open and nothing when it settles. That’s slightly above Kalshi’s $1.75 taker fee on the same trade, and miles below the roughly 4.5% vig baked into a -110 sportsbook line. Full math in our DraftKings Predictions fees article.
The Sportsbook-Style Interface
DraftKings displays contracts in American odds by default. A 60% implied probability shows as -150, not $0.60. The betslip flow mirrors DraftKings Sportsbook, which makes the learning curve near zero for the company’s core audience.
Traders will notice what’s missing. Market orders only, no limit orders, no order book visibility, no advanced charting. You take the price you’re shown. For price-sensitive volume, that’s a real cost.
Pros
The only sportsbook brand running its own CFTC-licensed exchange (DKeX)
Sports event contracts in California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia
Simple published fee schedule with no settlement fee
Combos and player props for bettors who want sportsbook-style products
Spend $5, Get $25 Instantly welcome offer
One account across Sportsbook, DFS, Casino, Pick6, and Predictions
Desktop web access added alongside the mobile apps
Standard banking rails: debit, ACH, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay
Cons
Sports markets in only 18 states, and never where DraftKings Sportsbook operates
No limit orders and no order book
Shallower catalog than Kalshi or Polymarket
No political markets; culture markets still unshipped
Moneyline display hides precision that serious traders want
Predictions Dollars from the bonus expire a year from issuance
Entirely unavailable in Maine and New Hampshire
Who Should Use It
Two groups. First, sports bettors in the 18 eligible states, especially California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia, where DraftKings Predictions is the most familiar-feeling legal path to trading sports outcomes. Second, existing DraftKings customers in sportsbook states who want economic and financial markets bolted onto an account they already have.
If prediction markets are your primary game, trade Kalshi for depth and limit orders, or Polymarket for politics. DraftKings built this for sports fans, and it shows in every design choice.
Bottom Line
DraftKings Predictions went from renting exchange access to owning DKeX in seven months, and the volume ($11.3B annualized total as of late June) says the market is rewarding it. The product is polished, the fees are fair, and the state footprint for sports is narrow by design.
If you’re in one of the 18 sports states, this is the easiest on-ramp to event contracts that exists. You can sign up.
Disclosures: PredictQ may receive compensation when readers sign up for platforms through links on this page. Information accurate as of July 2026. DraftKings Predictions is operated by GUS III LLC, a CFTC-registered Introducing Broker; contracts trade on DKeX, DraftKings’ CFTC-licensed exchange. Trading event contracts involves significant risk and is not appropriate for all participants. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Must be 18 or older (19 or 21 in some states). If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.