With the NFL season kicking off Sept. 9, DraftKings is escalating its prediction market advertising push into some of the country’s largest unlegalized sports betting markets.
DraftKings Predictions has rolled out state-specific ad campaigns in California, Florida, Georgia and Texas within the last 24 hours, according to Aldrin Research‘s X post. Only Florida allows legal sports betting under its exclusive compact with the Seminole Indians and Hard Rock Bet.
DraftKings launched its platform in 38 states back in December.
The new DraftKings ad campaign
DraftKings has been live with sports predictions across 15 states since December. However, the ad markets the product as “now live in” each specific state.
The offer gives new customers $200 in bonuses after a $5 spend. The credits are non-withdrawable and expire after a year.
The disclosure explicitly frames the platform as a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant and NFA member, which is the regulatory basis for operating in states without legal sports betting.
NFL kickoff likely prompts campaign
The marketing push exactly two weeks before the start of the NFL is likely not a coincidence. DraftKings has been preparing its prediction platform for the start of football season.
The company launched its proprietary prediction markets exchange, DKeX, in June. That sets the stage for the platform to route trades through its own infrastructure rather than third-party exchanges. Robins noted earlier this month that his company is the only betting brand to own three key layers of the predictions stack in-house: the brokerage, the exchange, and the market maker.
In addition, the company self-certified a “combos” contract with the CFTC in August, which allows customers to build parlays on DraftKings’ exchange.
