Fanatics CEO and founder Michael Rubin has announced the company’s plans to launch its own prediction markets offering “in the next couple of weeks”.
Speaking to CNBC, Rubin confirmed the operator’s intention to unveil its Fanatics Predicts platform, in collaboration with Crypto.com.
Fanatics recently acquired Wall Street-based firm Paragon Global Markets, which is registered with National Futures Association (NFA), helping pave the way for any prediction markets offering.
Paragon Global Markets is registered with the NFA as an introducing broker, granting it the ability to offer contracts provided by a designated contract market (DCM), such as Kalshi or Crypto.com.
Rubin himself is also listed as an indirect owner of at least 10% of the company.
Rubin told CNBC: “From our perspective, if there’s a business that is important to our customers, we want to be in there and do it better.
“So I’ll say something that I think won’t be conventional thinking. I think the winners in this are going to be the sportsbooks.
“I just think if you look at what Flutter and FanDuel has and DraftKings and Fanatics, I think we have such strategic advantages from the enormous customer base that we have to all of the experience.”
Fanatics Betting and Gaming has ramped up its US sports betting and online casino efforts in recent years, catalysed by the acquisition of PointsBet US.
The firm is live with sports betting in 23 states and DC, while Fanatics Casino is available in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Rubin suggested the sports event contracts would go live in those states without legalised sports betting, a strategy both FanDuel and DraftKings are set to deploy.
The CEO added: “We’re only in 23 states, so there’s 27 states we’re going to launch in that we think customers want this product and we want to give it to the customers. I can’t tell you what the regulatory environment is going to be.
“What I can tell you is if the regulatory environment says that we can do this, we’re going to do it, and if it changes, then we’ll change with it.
“I would not have believed a year or year and a half ago that all these fantasy players, prediction markets, sweepstakes casinos… I didn’t think any of these things would still be going. And I was wrong.
“So what do we do? We adapt. We build. And so we’re launching our predictions business in the next couple of weeks. And we’re excited about it.”
Fanatics will become the latest major US operator to launch a predictions market offering.
Earlier this month, FanDuel announced the launch of its FanDuel Predicts platform, which was preceded by DraftKings unveiling its DraftKings Predictions product.
FanDuel’s launch was facilitated by parent company Flutter’s joint venture with CME Group, while DraftKings acquired Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-listed firm Railbird Exchange.
Both companies left the American Gaming Association (AGA) as a result of their involvement with prediction markets products.
The Fanatics partnership marks Crypto.com’s latest collaboration with a betting operator.
In September, the exchange partnered with Underdog for a prediction markets offering, with the company becoming the first DFS operator to enter the vertical.
The post Fanatics CEO announces impending launch of prediction markets product first appeared on EGR Intel.
Michael Rubin confirms plans to partner with Crypto.com to launch Fanatics Predicts , following in the footsteps of FanDuel and DraftKings
The post Fanatics CEO announces impending launch of prediction markets product first appeared on EGR Intel.