Matchbook has revealed plans to launch its version of a prediction market platform in the UK market at the start of next year.
The betting exchange will unveil the offering in the UK in January 2026, as per interim CEO Ronan McDonagh.
The UK launch will serve as a litmus test before Matchbook takes the product to the US market, the boss said.
Matchbook is aiming to secure regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by March of next year.
The UK platform will be sports-focused, launched by Matchbook via its existing licence with the Gambling Commission.
In effect, the standard UK-facing betting exchange UI with decimal odds will be replaced by a percentage probability for ‘yes’ or ‘no’ outcomes for the new product.
It will also introduce a prediction market as a white-label provider for easyBet, which debuted in the UK in partnership with Matchbook in October 2024.
Matchbook, which operates in the UK via the Triplebet licence, is one of the smaller betting exchanges in the market compared to Betfair, with others including Smarkets and Betdaq, previously owned by Entain.
Indeed, Betfair has offered its own version of ‘yes/no’ markets in the past, most notably one on whether the Cheltenham Festival 2020 would go ahead, amid the Covid pandemic.
More than £3m was traded on the market and the Flutter-owned brand subsequently offered a series of yes/no markets across different sports and politics/novelty markets.
Same engine
Speaking to Bloomberg about Matchbook’s UK launch, McDonagh said: “It’s not new in the sense that it works on the same engine as an exchange.
“It should be more understandable, so I think we’re hopeful that it captures a new audience or it intrigues people to have a look.”
Prediction markets have exploded in the US , with the likes of Kalshi, Polymarket and Robinhood rising to prominence over the last year.
Several major operators have also made moves to enter the prediction markets space in the last few months.
Both FanDuel and DraftKings announced the impending launch of their respective platforms, FanDuel Predicts and DraftKings Predictions.
FanDuel owner Flutter has seconded senior Betfair executives to support the launch.
As a result, both operators left the American Gaming Association, which is a vocal opponent of sports event contracts.
Earlier this month, Fanatics announced the launch of its Fanatics Markets platform in partnership with Crypto.com, with a view to targeting states where sports betting isn’t currently legal.
Matchbook’s US partner, RSBIX LLC, filed with the CFTC in September to launch an exchange stateside.
McDonagh added that the company is open to partnering with a different company in the US in order to boost its brand recognition.
He continued: “We’re not sentimental about going in as Matchbook. We’ve been in the exchange business so long and we’ve got a really strong tech platform.
“We’ve got strong market making partners, liquidity and a great product. We’ll be able to complete on day one in the US.”
The post Matchbook to debut UK-facing prediction markets offering first appeared on EGR Intel.
Interim CEO Ronan McDonagh says the UK launch, scheduled for January 2026, will be a litmus test for an eventual foray into the US market
The post Matchbook to debut UK-facing prediction markets offering first appeared on EGR Intel.