Just weeks after being certified by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to begin offering events contracts, start-up prediction market Railbird Exchange is in talks to be acquired by DraftKings, according to Front Office Sports.
A DraftKings spokesperson told InGame: “DraftKings speaks to a variety of companies regarding various matters in the normal course of business, and it is our general policy not to comment on the specifics of any of those discussions.”
Sportsbooks hedge bets vs. prediction markets
DraftKings’ interest in exchange markets is nothing new as the subspecies — particularly Kalshi, which offers sports event contracts analogous to moneyline sports bets — threatens to upend sports betting in the United States. DraftKings, which offers sports bets in 26 U.S. jurisdictions, applied to the National Futures Association (NFA) for its own license to launch “DraftKings Predict,” but withdrew the application in March.
Kalshi expanded its menu of politics, economic, and pop culture offerings in 2025 to include sports markets — it launched college football wagering recently — and derives most of its volume from sports already. It’s also scored a string of court victories fighting off cease-and-desist orders from states defending their regulated sports betting economies. Kalshi contends that as an exchange market it has national reach as overseen by the CFTC.
This has quaked a state-regulated sports betting industry awash in tax rate hikes nationally and chafed by an upstart operating without borders and without the fees regulated operators paid as an entry point. Gaming tribes are also unamused.
The CFTC, which is chocked with out-going members and awaiting the confirmation of a new commissioner in Brian Quintenz, has constantly passed on asserting authority as Kalshi self-certifies and launches more sports markets.
In that void, DraftKings appears to be hedging as competitor FanDuel was, reportedly — by FOS last month — discussing a partnership with Kalshi. Railbird, though, having not launched, couldn’t bring the heft of a Kalshi user base that a company spokesperson told InGame was roughly two million.
A DraftKings spokesperson told InGame: “DraftKings continues to monitor developments related to prediction markets as an emerging product that reflects evolving consumer engagement and warrants thoughtful consideration.”
