This proprietary exchange, DKeX, and its integration into the app and will enable DraftKings to innovate more rapidly, the digital sports and gaming company said in a Friday (June 26) press release.
“DKeX provides a vertically integrated foundation for DraftKings Predictions, strengthening our prediction markets content and capabilities, giving us greater control over the technology that powers those offerings, and enabling us to move faster as we continue enhancing our unified app,” DraftKings CEO and Co-Founder Jason Robins said in the release.
Jeanine Hightower-Sellitto, senior vice president and general manager of prediction markets at DraftKings, said in the release that the launch of DKeX and its integration into the company’s app “is a major step forward in delivering a best-in-class customer experience in sports nationwide” and “creates new opportunities to further expand the offering ahead of some of the biggest moments on the sports calendar.”
To build DKeX, DraftKings leveraged the technology and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) license it gained with its acquisition of Railbird Technologies, per the release.
When DraftKings acquired Railbird Technologies and its wholly owned subsidiary, Railbird Exchange, in October, the company said the move would enable it to offer regulated event contracts and enter prediction markets.
DraftKings entered prediction markets in December when it launched DraftKings Predictions as a standalone app and web product. The company said at the time that it would initially allow eligible customers to trade on real-world outcomes in sports and finance and would later add other markets such as entertainment and culture. It added that it planned to connect Railbird Technologies and Railbird Exchange.
DraftKings said in its Friday press release that for the week ending Sunday (June 21), DraftKings Predictions has $3.4 billion in annualized consumer volume and $11.3 billion in annualized total trading volume.
During a May earnings call, Robins framed “sports predictions” as the company’s next frontier, describing the category as a major adjacent opportunity capable of reshaping how consumers engage with live sports.
PYMNTS reported at the time that rather than treating prediction markets as a side business, DraftKings is building them directly into its flagship app and building what Robins called a nationwide “super app” for sports engagement.
