Fanatics reportedly in prediction market talks with Crypto.com
Fanatics is reportedly in talks with cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com about launching a joint prediction market platform, according to the Financial Times.
The discussions are preliminary, and neither Fanatics nor Crypto.com has confirmed anything as both parties have declined to comment. However, such a move would give Fanatics exposure to a sector that has grown quickly in the past year, fueled by rising valuations for established companies Polymarket and Kalshi.
Prediction market companies have begun to reshape the gambling landscape in the US, which in turn has prompted established gambling companies to consider their options.
Crypto.com has been active in the space, offering event contracts through its regulated exchange and signing deals with betting operator Hollywood.com and social gaming platform MyPrize.
The speculation about a potential partnership comes as Fanatics also continues to expand globally. In April, the company opened a flagship store in London and it has been broadening its presence in sports betting and collectibles, including trading cards.
Last week, Flutter, the parent company of sports betting and fantasy sports firm FanDuel, announced a partnership with derivatives exchange CME Group to launch a prediction market service.
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The Backstory
How a niche product became a strategic battleground
Fanatics’ preliminary talks with Crypto.com over a joint prediction market venture, first reported by the Financial Times, land at a moment when event contracts are moving from the edges of crypto and finance into mainstream sports and media. The pitch is simple: instead of betting against a bookmaker, users buy and sell contracts on real-world outcomes with prices that move like stocks. The model has attracted billions in weekly trading volume and sky-high valuations for market leaders, making it harder for big brands to sit out. For Fanatics, which has been scaling its sports betting and collectibles businesses while planting flags in global retail, a structured entry via a seasoned exchange partner would offer speed and regulatory cover in a fast-changing market. The FT story underscores the momentum and the scrutiny around this category as traditional gambling firms and trading platforms push in from different directions.
That context also explains why the industry is consolidating around a handful of infrastructure providers. Crypto.com has spent the past year turning its regulated events contracts unit into a white-label engine for consumer-facing brands. The logic for Fanatics is to align with a platform that already offers sports and political markets, has built compliance muscle and can plug into distribution quickly. The logic for Crypto.com is access to Fanatics’ audience, rights relationships and merchandising footprint that could pull new users into event trading.
Financial Times reporting on the talks also reflects a broader pivot by exchanges and sportsbooks toward “marketized” betting products that feel more like trading than wagering. That distinction matters for regulators, who must decide whether these are derivatives, gambling, or something in between.
Crypto.com’s partner pipeline sets the pace
If Fanatics jumps, it would be joining a queue. Crypto.com has already stitched together a series of distribution deals designed to plant prediction markets in high-traffic consumer platforms across politics, sports and social media. Former President Donald Trump’s media company said it will launch Truth Predict on Truth Social, using Crypto.com Derivatives North America as the exclusive exchange backbone and promising a U.S. rollout followed by international markets. The move gives Crypto.com a direct line into a politically engaged audience and positions event contracts as a content feature rather than a standalone destination.
Crypto.com also became the first social gaming partner for MyPrize, which introduced MyPrize Markets to more than one million users with livestreaming and community tools built in. The deal targets a different on-ramp: casual gamers who might treat event contracts as social entertainment instead of financial speculation.
In sports, Crypto.com teamed up with Underdog to bring prediction markets to 16 states, including jurisdictions that don’t permit traditional sports betting. That distribution hack matters. By anchoring contracts in a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-registered exchange and embedding them in a fantasy operator’s app, the model broadens access while regulators sort out the lines between trading and wagering. The Underdog pact also signals where the most immediate consumer demand sits: real-time sports outcomes that resemble live betting but trade like options.
Regulators redraw boundaries in real time
The legal architecture for event contracts remains unsettled, which is both a risk and an entry opportunity. Kalshi, the best-known regulated events exchange, pushed through a lengthy fight with the CFTC to secure approval for election contracts and now offers sports title markets that ask whether a team will win a championship. That expansion came as the CFTC pressed Crypto.com to pull back Super Bowl listings pending review. Crypto.com refused, according to prior reporting, and continues to offer sports event contracts while relying on its derivatives unit’s registration.
This friction will shape how brands like Fanatics proceed. A partnership with a registered exchange mitigates some regulatory risk but doesn’t eliminate headline exposure if authorities challenge specific markets, particularly in sports and elections. It also forces operators to choose where to launch first: states and segments with clearer pathways, or national platforms that test the limits of federal oversight. The variance in state gambling laws makes the Underdog model instructive for any entrant seeking scale without a patchwork of sportsbook licenses.
Rising competition from finance and media
The heat in prediction markets is attracting players from adjacent sectors. In addition to Crypto.com’s partner roster, Robinhood has begun offering prediction markets via a tie-up with Kalshi, as noted in the Underdog announcement. Traditional sportsbook operators are also experimenting with market-style products to fend off share loss to exchanges that can operate where wagering is constrained. That creates a crowded funnel in which user acquisition costs are likely to spike and product differentiation will hinge on liquidity, ease of use and the breadth of tradable events.
For Fanatics, the calculus includes more than trading volumes. The company’s sports rights relationships and retail reach offer cross-promotion channels that newcomers lack. But the same brand equity amplifies downside if regulators or leagues object to specific markets. Recent expansion by Truth Social, MyPrize and Underdog shows how fast a credible partner can bring prediction markets to large audiences. It also shows how quickly the category can become politicized, which raises reputational stakes for consumer brands considering a move.
Global rulebooks are opening, but unevenly
While the U.S. sorts through definitions and jurisdiction, other markets are sketching frameworks that could eventually accommodate exchange-like betting products. In the United Arab Emirates, the new General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority is preparing a limited-license model for online gaming that mirrors the land-based approach, with one consumer license per emirate likely and only a subset of emirates expected to opt in. Inside Asian Gaming similarly reported the authority may offer up to one online license in each emirate, an early signal of how a conservative market might gate innovation while inviting investment.
For firms like Fanatics and Crypto.com, clear licensing lanes in high-growth regions provide optionality if U.S. progress stalls. But the UAE’s cautious rollout underscores a broader truth: global expansion will be asymmetric, with regulators prioritizing technology controls, responsible gaming and financial integrity before greenlighting novel products at scale. That favors operators with modular tech stacks and the patience to localize offerings under different legal standards.
What to watch as the market matures
Three dynamics will determine whether a Fanatics-Crypto.com tie-up materializes and how it would compete. First, regulatory testing: any CFTC or state-level actions on sports and election contracts will influence product scope and rollout speed. Second, liquidity wars: partnerships like Truth Predict, MyPrize Markets and Underdog’s multistate launch are essentially distribution races. Third, convergence with sportsbooks and brokers: if traditional operators and retail brokerages normalize event contracts inside familiar apps, standalone exchanges will need sharper propositions.
Fanatics’ deliberations sit at the intersection of these forces. A partnership model reduces build time and regulatory pain, but it also ties the brand’s fortunes to an exchange navigating active oversight. The prize is a new, tradable layer of fan engagement that could deepen its ecosystem. The risk is misalignment with regulators or leagues just as prediction markets become a mainstream product.
