Flutter Entertainment (NYSE: FLUT) recently released its second-quarter earnings report and held an engaging conference call with analysts. A noteworthy development from this call is that FanDuel’s prediction market will be transferring its novelty and sports derivatives to Crypto.com from CME Group (NASDAQ: CME).
During the analyst call on Wednesday, Peter Jackson, the outgoing CEO of Flutter, announced that FanDuel Predicts—the platform for sports predictions—will be moving its novelty and sports event contracts to Crypto.com, in collaboration with CME.
“This new exchange partnership will enable us to rapidly introduce innovative products ahead of the NFL season,” stated Jackson. “Our comprehensive app is also empowering us to utilize FanDuel’s strong brand presence, which is driving faster market penetration and improved marketing efficiencies.”
In June, FanDuel revealed a partnership with Crypto.com’s OG Prediction Markets focused on entertainment and sports event contracts, as well as “combos,” which is industry jargon for parlays. However, financial derivatives related to major equity indexes will still be managed by CME.
Is There Tension Between Partners?
The partnership between CME and FanDuel was launched nearly a year ago, emphasizing economic data and financial markets.
However, as FanDuel Predicts aimed to expand its offering of sports event contracts—the most popular assets in prediction markets—there has been speculation about the future of this partnership with CME. The news about the shift to Crypto.com has fueled rumors of potential conflicts (though unverified) between FanDuel and the financial services provider.
This speculation may hold some truth. In CME’s second-quarter earnings call last month, CEO Terry Duffy remarked that sports event contracts are considered “gambling,” and mentioned that the Supreme Court might eventually address the status of such derivatives.
Shortly after, CME announced a collaboration with FutureSports, which could pose competition to the sports contracts available on yes/no exchanges. FutureSports creates indexes based on athlete and team performance, with CME planning to introduce futures and options contracts linked to these metrics.
Optimistic Outlook for FanDuel Predicts
Although Flutter’s second-quarter results were disappointing, leading the company to lower its earnings and sales projections for 2026—resulting in a decline in stock prices—there were some positive aspects, notably the company’s capability to harness existing expertise in sports trading for revenue growth in yes/no market making.
“We believe we are uniquely positioned to provide liquidity across various prediction market platforms through a scalable market-making option that requires minimal incremental investment,” Jackson noted during the call. “Although it’s still early days, we anticipate generating around $50 million in revenue from market making this year, highlighting both the progress we’ve made and the potential opportunities ahead.”