Sports betting giant DraftKings has officially launched its own prediction market exchange, DKeX, as the industry rides an unprecedented wave of activity driven by the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The move marks a significant expansion of DraftKings’ presence in the rapidly growing sector, which has seen weekly trading volumes soar to a record $14.5 billion and outstanding bets hit $1.6 billion.
DKeX is powered by technology from Railbird Technologies, a CFTC-licensed firm that DraftKings acquired in October 2025. The exchange allows the company to own the entire customer experience, from content depth to operating economics. “The launch positions the Company to innovate more rapidly through greater ownership over content depth, operating economics, and the end-to-end customer experience,” DraftKings stated in its announcement.
Since first entering prediction markets in December 2025, DraftKings has moved aggressively to capture market share. It struck a partnership with Crypto.com to broaden available markets, and CEO Jason Robins called prediction markets “a massive, incremental opportunity” in February 2026. The company’s prediction vertical has already generated $3.4 billion in annualized consumer volume and $11.3 billion in total trading volume as of June 21. Over 30% of customers have used the platform’s “combinations” feature, which bundles multiple contracts into a single position, since its launch in mid-May.
DraftKings’ debut comes as the World Cup catapults prediction markets into the mainstream. Kalshi on Friday announced a collaboration with ADI Predictstreet, an official FIFA partner, placing its brand in stadiums and global broadcasts. Kalshi currently dominates sports prediction volume with 62% of the total, while Polymarket holds 28%, according to data from Artemis. Meanwhile, Rothera, an exchange that Robinhood began routing wagers to in late May, saw weekly volumes explode from $2.1 million to $805 million.
Analysts at Bernstein have suggested the World Cup could be a “watershed moment” for prediction markets, with heavyweights like Coinbase and Meta also expanding their footprints.
