The partnership extends financial market-based betting to fantasy sports users, marking a significant convergence that could reshape the online wagering industry as adoption accelerates nationwide.
Shares of Flutter Entertainment rose 1.5% in extended trading on Wednesday, after the company announced a partnership with CME Group to roll out products that would let its users bet on financial market outcomes for as little as $1.
The FanDuel operator would set up a joint venture with CME, America’s biggest futures exchange, for the new offering, set to launch later this year. FanDuel customers in the U.S. will get access to contracts for simple yes-or-no wagers on market events, such as the S&P 500 index or gold prices hitting certain levels or on upcoming readings of key economic data, such as the gross domestic product (GDP) or consumer price index (CPI).
The partnership extends financial market-based betting to fantasy sports users (in the environment they are familiar with), marking a significant convergence that could reshape the online wagering industry as adoption accelerates nationwide.
The development also comes as firms ramp up wagering on a wider range of events, from economic and political outcomes (Kalshi, Interactive Brokers, PredictIt) to sports, as well as trading in alternative assets such as cryptocurrencies.
DraftKings, a direct competitor to Flutter, is reportedly exploring an acquisition in the prediction markets space, while Robinhood recently withdrew a product that let users bet on Super Bowl results.
CME already offers small-stakes yes-no contracts tied to daily outcomes in futures markets. The company’s shares rose marginally in Wednesday’s extended trading.
“Individual investors are increasingly sophisticated and continually pursuing new financial opportunities,” CME Group CEO Terry Duffy said in a statement on Wednesday.
FanDuel Group CEO Amy Howe said, “We believe there is potentially a wide audience for trading event-based markets and we want to provide a platform that allows our customers to engage in this activity.”
On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment was ‘bearish’ for Flutter and ‘bullish’ for CME, with Flutter featuring among the top five trending tickers on the platform as of early Thursday. Flutter and CME shares are up 14% and 18%, respectively, year-to-date.
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