90%
75%
USA
Canada
Australia
UKDraftKings Launches Prediction Platform in California Despite Sports Betting Ban
Key Highlights
- DraftKings’ prediction platform is now available in California despite the state’s ban on traditional sports betting.
- Prediction markets use federally regulated event contracts, allowing platforms to operate differently from state-regulated sportsbooks.
- Tribal gaming leaders have raised concerns that prediction markets could take business away from California tribal casinos.
DraftKings has leveraged a legal loophole to offer sports betting in California. The popular sportsbook launched a predictions platform in the Golden State, drawing concerns from state regulators and tribal gaming leaders.
DraftKings Enters California’s Prediction Market
DraftKings launched DraftKings Predictions, a standalone app, in December 2025. In August of 2026 it announced the platform was active for California players, giving users another way to put money on sporting events and other real-world outcomes involving politics and entertainment. California does not have regulated sports betting.
The company joins Kalshi and Polymarket in California’s competitive prediction market ecosystem. DraftKings users can make predictions on topics ranging from sporting events to Spotify’s top song of the year and the winner of the next presidential election.
How Prediction Markets Operate Differently
Unlike traditional sports betting sites, prediction platforms categorize wagers as event contracts rather than traditional sports bets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates those contracts, allowing the platforms to operate under a different framework from sportsbooks governed by state gambling laws.
California voters rejected two sports betting proposals in 2022. Proposition 27 would have legalized online and mobile sports wagering outside tribal lands, while Proposition 26 would have permitted sports betting on tribal lands.
Prediction markets also have a lower minimum age. Users can participate beginning at 18, compared with the standard minimum age of 21 for traditional sports betting.
Tribal Gaming Groups Raise Concerns
California Nations Indian Gaming Association Chairman James Siva described California as the “golden goose” because of its size and importance to gaming operators.
Siva specifically expressed concern that expanding prediction markets could draw business away from tribal casinos, which provide jobs and funding for tribal communities. In 2023, the National Indian Gaming Commission reported tribal casinos in California and northern Nevada generated roughly $12 billion in annual revenue.
The arrival of DraftKings adds another major operator to California’s prediction market landscape while questions continue over how these platforms fit alongside the state’s rejection of legalized sports betting.
