FanDuel Partners with CME Group for Event-Based Contracts

FanDuel, a fantasy sports company, has partnered with CME Group, the world's largest and most diversified exchange operator, to offer event contracts. CME Group specializes in forward contracts and options on financial instruments, including interest rates, stock market indexes, currencies, agricultural commodities, energy, and real estate. The partnership will allow FanDuel to offer its users a new type of contract that can be traded on CME Group's electronic platforms.

FanDuel, a leading fantasy sports company, has entered into a strategic partnership with CME Group, the world's largest and most diversified exchange operator. This collaboration aims to introduce new event contracts to FanDuel's user base, leveraging CME Group's expertise in forward contracts and options on financial instruments.

The partnership, announced on August 20, 2025 [1], will allow FanDuel to offer its users a new type of contract that can be traded on CME Group's electronic platforms. These event contracts will be fully funded, event-based contracts with defined risk, allowing users to express their views multiple times a day on a wide range of markets with simple "yes" or "no" positions for as little as $1.

Expected to launch later this year, the products will include benchmarks such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100, prices of oil and gas, gold, cryptocurrencies, and key economic indicators such as GDP and CPI. Further details of additional offerings will be determined in the coming months.

Terry Duffy, CME Group Chairman and CEO, stated, "Individual investors are increasingly sophisticated and continually pursuing new financial opportunities. To meet this demand, we have created this innovative partnership, which will operate a non-clearing FCM. Together, our event-based products will appeal to the growing public interest in markets, and we will provide education to attract a new generation of potential traders not active in derivatives today."

Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel Group, added, "Partnering with CME Group will unlock our ability to bring even more new and engaging products to FanDuel’s fast-growing customer base. We believe there is potentially a wide audience for trading event-based markets and we want to provide a platform that allows our customers to engage in this activity. We are excited to be partnering with CME Group to design new and engaging products, combining innovation with best-in-class regulatory compliance and consumer protections."

As part of the partnership, CME Group and FanDuel will form a new joint venture, under which they will operate a non-clearing futures commission merchant (FCM) that will facilitate access to these event-based contracts through FanDuel. Pending CFTC regulatory review, event contracts will be listed on and subject to the rules of CME Group exchanges and available through all participating FCMs.

The partnership is expected to expand access to financial markets for millions of FanDuel customers in the United States, providing them with a new way to engage with financial markets.

References:
[1] https://www.flutter.com/news-and-insights/press-releases/cme-group-and-fanduel-partner-to-develop-innovative-event-contracts-platform/