Look what’s clicking on FoxBusiness.com.
Fanatics, the leading global sports platform, is entering a fast-growing, high-demand sector: prediction markets.
Fanatics Markets, a simple, easy-to-use prediction market platform, was announced Wednesday. It will enable consumers to act in moments that shape sports, finance and culture.
While Fanatics is one of the major players in the sports betting space, a prediction market is a very different space considering the vast sectors people can trade in, including politics, the Oscars, a cultural moment and much more.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE FOXBUSINESS.COM
First, it starts with a familiar name for many who are on the fence about participating in prediction markets.
“The main thing that makes us different is our brand,” King said. “This is something that’s totally new and it’s about something that’s a totally new concept, and when you go to sign up it’s, ‘Hey, give us your social security number and some private information. And by the way, give us money as a down payment.’ Ultimately, we’ve seen time and time again that having a brand that people know and trust is incredibly valuable to them. Because it’s like, ‘Hey, if I’m going to try something new, I’ll feel better if I try it with a brand I already know.’
“This is a place where our brand will matter a lot.”
FANATICS LAUNCHES COMPANY-WIDE LOYALTY PROGRAM WITH REWARDS, INCLUDING ATHLETE AND VIP EXPERIENCES
As King notes, Fanatics has had the ability to expand and transform over the years. Although it is a sports platform, Fanatics has had its finger on the pulse of how sports intersects with music, pop culture and more. Think rapper Travis Scott and NFL legend Tom Brady opening Topps trading card packs together at Fanatics Fest with thousands of fans on hand for a unique experience.
“The ability to build an ecosystem where the more people interact with us, the more value they see. We think this is just another opportunity to add a product that people can engage with us and unlock even more benefits within the Fanatics ecosystem,” King added.
Like everyone at the company, Fanatics wanted to make sure they got this right, especially given the established status of the futures industry. There are rules and regulations that are different than those of sports gambling.
That’s why Fanatics Markets acquired Paragon Global Markets, LLC (“Paragon”) in July 2025. Paragon is federally registered as an introducing broker with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), while also being a member of the National Futures Association.
Fanatics Markets will also introduce its customers to the markets and prizes offered by Crypto.com | Derivatives North America (CDNA), a CFTC-registered exchange and clearinghouse.
Now, every new venture, even established companies like Fanatics, faces challenges when entering a new space. King sees two challenges for Fanatics Markets from the start.
“You’re going to have to recognize that this is going to be an incredibly competitive space,” he said. “Anytime you have a new space that big and a lot of venture capital floating around, you tend to see people doing irrational things from an economic perspective. So I think it’s the right balance between still being aggressive but being disciplined from a business perspective and building for the long term.”
The second challenge for Fanatics Markets is the various competitors that the brand is not necessarily accustomed to. Of course, King said, “I would still support us all day long if we want to be successful,” but he tipped his hat to those who have already shown success in space.
“You’ve got Robinhood, WeBull and some of the other traditional investment platforms that are clearly pushing into the speculation space and focusing on more sports-oriented products,” King said. “We are a sports brand going in the opposite direction, and so we have to recognize that this is a different competitor than what we have competed against in the past. I would still support us all day to be successful, but it will be different and it will be busy.”
But what Fanatics Markets can do is bring a trusted brand name to the prediction markets market, break it into the mainstream, and do it in two phases.
The launch on Wednesday brings Phase One to the market, namely event contracts for sports, finance, economics and politics. In phase two, launching early next year, Fanatics Markets will expand into event contracts covering crypto, equities/IPOs, climate, pop culture, technology/AI, movies and music.
It’s also worth noting that while it’s a separate app, it’s one shared wallet and account – a unique feature that also works in the last major part of this new venture from Fanatics.
Consumer protection has always been at the forefront of Fanatics, and that is no different here. Risk management tools will be in place to help consumers manage their exposure while acting responsibly and making informed decisions. In turn, there are also uniform limits across multiple products, i.e. deposit limits, session limits, timeouts and self-exclusion set on Fanatics Sportsbook transfer to Fanatics Markets.
“We think it’s incredibly important to put consumer protection first and ensure consumers are informed about how to set their own limits. It was an easy decision for us to make sure we’ve put the best thought into all our other lines of business and put this at the heart of the consumer here,” King said.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
The Fanatics Markets app launches today in the following states: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Utah. Those states will be followed by Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
“We couldn’t be more excited. It’s something that often happens, and has been true with regulated sports betting and iGaming, that we were late to the party. Here is a place where we can be, certainly not the first mover, but one of the first movers in a market that is still incredibly dynamic and still has a lot of innovation and growth to offer,” said King. “We are excited to demonstrate that we can be a top player in this category, in part because we have the opportunity to be one of the early movers, rather than the second mover.”
