- Polymarket is letting U.S. users back in after a four-year ban, starting with sports betting and planning to expand into other markets soon.
- Fanatics launched its prediction market app in 24 states this week, including California and Texas where traditional sportsbooks are still unregulated.
- Both platforms are calling their bets “trades” instead of gambling to operate under different federal rules that bypass state restrictions.
NEW YORK — Prediction markets are on the rise, and the rush to capitalize on betting on everything is reshaping how Americans engage with sports, politics, and culture. Two major players made moves this week that signal just how mainstream this trend has become.
Polymarket Returns to American Soil
Polymarket is discreetly allowing American consumers to return after almost four years of absence. The platform announced that it will begin granting waitlist members access to sports betting before expanding to other markets. It’s a careful reentry for a company ordered to stop doing business in the U.S. back in 2022 after settling with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over unregistered event contracts.
By purchasing the already-registered QCEX exchange for $112 million in July and self-certifying with the CFTC in September, Polymarket avoided years of regulatory red tape. A few high-volume traders used an API version to test the waters for weeks, moving hundreds of thousands of dollars on NBA and NFL games.
Although not everyone on the waitlist has yet to gain admission, the gates are now opening wider. The timing is significant because Polymarket’s worldwide version became a cultural sensation during the 2024 election cycle, and prediction market trade has already surpassed $27.9 billion globally this year.
Fanatics Jumps In With Full Force
Fanatics isn’t tiptoeing into anything. The sports merchandising giant launched Fanatics Markets on Wednesday in 10 states, with 14 more rolling out by Friday.
The expansion includes Texas and California, two sizable markets where traditional sportsbooks are still prohibited, demonstrating prediction markets’ greatest advantage over state-regulated betting. The website, which was created in collaboration with Crypto.com, allows users to wager on political events, sports results, and economic indicators. By early 2026, cryptocurrency prices and initial public offerings will be available.
Fans avoided the approximately $50 million DraftKings paid to acquire Railbird by opting for the broker model instead of buying an exchange altogether. Prediction markets are governed by the CFTC rather than state gambling laws, but legal sports betting in California is still blocked for regular sportsbooks.
This also holds true for Texas sports betting apps, where Fanatics Markets launches on Friday in spite of the state’s ban on sports betting.
CEO Matt King insisted that rather than being considered gambling, these should be viewed as trading subjects to future legislation. As legal sports betting makes wagering more commonplace and prediction markets identify what would be a more profitable path for the sector, that distinction becomes more crucial.
