Crypto.com logo displayed on a phone screen with representation of cryptocurrencies.Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesFantasy and sports gaming operator Underdog is partnering with Crypto.com to offer sports prediction in 16 states, mostly focused on where legal sports betting has not been adopted, the companies told CNBC on Tuesday."Prediction are one of the most exciting developments we've seen in a long time, " Underdog founder and CEO Jeremy Levine said on CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange" Tuesday.
"While still new and evolving, one thing is -- the future of prediction is going to be sports -- and no one does sports better than Underdog." Underdog is the first sports gaming platform to enter the new and rapidly expanding prediction market industry, which is a modern chimera of financial trading and sports betting: Traders buy and sell the outcome of sporting events, but the odds change according to market movements, and there's no bookmaker.Robinhood, Kalshi and Polymarket already offer sports events contracts.FanDuel, owned by Flutter, announced earlier this month that it would partner with the CME Group to offer financial events contracts.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins has also told CNBC he's interested in entering the fray.Sports events contracts could be especially lucrative for platforms that bypass state gaming regulators and tribal pushback.The nation's most populous states, California and Texas, do not offer legal sports betting.
In Florida, the third most populous state, the Seminole Tribe has a near monopoly on legal gambling through its Hard Rock casinos and sportsbooks.These remain inaccessible to legal sportsbooks, and the tribes have demonstrated a commitment to fending off what they consider to be a competitive threat to their sovereign rights.The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission and federal courts are still grappling with the question of whether sports predictions are sports gambling, as well as whether they encroach on states' right to regulate sports gambling or if they violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.Still, as Citizens gaming analyst Jordan Bender wrote in April, "prediction are too loud to ignore."He estimated that the sports prediction market could generate $555 million this year.
The legal online sports betting market generated $16 billion in 2024, according to Bender.The sport events contracts will be vided by Crypto.com Derivatives North America (CDNA) — an exchange that's already registered with the CFTC — but hosted on Underdog's platform and fueled by its nology, the companies said."We were the first to offer sports events contracts, and our nology partnership with Underdog will vide more access to CDNA's innovative offerings," said Travis McGhee, managing director and global head of capital at Crypto.com.