Fanatics Promo Code: Up to $100 in matched credits ($10 per day for 10 days on qualifying trades)

Fanatics is one of the most recognised sports brands in the world, known for jerseys, merchandise, and sports memorabilia. In December 2025, the company launched Fanatics Markets, a prediction market app that represents a significant shift into financial exchange territory. The move was not built from scratch. Fanatics partnered with Crypto.com and its CFTC regulated exchange Crypto.com Derivatives North America (CDNA) to provide the trading infrastructure, and acquired Paragon Global Markets LLC, a registered introducing broker and National Futures Association member, to handle the regulatory layer.

Up to $100 in matched credits ($10 per day for 10 days on qualifying trades)

Predict

Must be 18 years or older and have a legal, U.S. residential address within the applicable state, D.C., or U.S. territories. Not available in AZ, IL, MA, MD, MI, MT, NJ, NV and OH.

The result is a prediction market that carries the weight of one of sport's most trusted consumer brands, backed by regulated exchange infrastructure that was already operational before the Fanatics name went on top of it. The platform launched in 10 states in early December 2025 and expanded to 24 states plus Washington D.C. within weeks. It is built entirely around a mobile app with no desktop trading available, and covers sports, politics, economics, crypto, climate, and culture.

How Fanatics Markets Works

Fanatics Markets is a Yes/No contract trading platform. Every market is a question about a real world event, such as which team wins a game, whether Bitcoin closes above a certain price, or who controls the Senate after an election. You pick a side and buy contracts at a price between $0.01 and $0.99. That price reflects the market's implied probability of the outcome happening. A contract priced at $0.66 means the market thinks there is a 66% chance the event resolves Yes.

If you are right and hold until the market settles, each contract pays out $1. If you are wrong, it expires at $0. You can also sell your position before the event resolves if the price has moved in your favour, locking in a gain, or sell to reduce a loss if things are going the wrong way. All prices are set by other traders through an order book, not by Fanatics itself.

Getting started requires downloading the Fanatics Markets app on iOS or Android. You must be 21 or older and complete full KYC verification, including a government issued photo ID. The platform includes a Markets 101 onboarding guide that walks new users through how contracts work, how markets settle, and what order types are available, a genuinely useful feature for anyone who has never used a prediction market before.

Once verified, you fund your account via ACH bank transfer, debit card, Apple Pay, or bank wire. The minimum deposit is $5 via card or ACH and $1,000 via wire. ACH deposits are free. Debit card and Apple Pay deposits carry a 2% processing fee. There are no withdrawal fees. Withdrawals go through online banking or debit card and typically arrive within three business days.

When a market closes, contracts settle automatically based on official results. Winning contracts pay $1 per share to your account balance. Settlement fees are not charged on winning contracts held through resolution.

Platform Snapshot

⭐ Best For: Sports fans in states without legal sports betting who want regulated event contract trading

🎁 Welcome Offer: Up to $100 in matched credits ($10 per day for 10 days on qualifying trades)

📍 Availability: 24 U.S. states plus Washington D.C.

📚 Market Categories: Sports, politics, economics, crypto, climate, culture

💰 Payment Methods: ACH, debit card, Apple Pay, bank wire

The Story So Far

Fanatics was founded in 1995 by Alan Trager and is currently led by CEO Michael Rubin, who acquired the company in 2011. Rubin has transformed Fanatics from a sports merchandise retailer into a diversified sports technology and gaming business, adding a sportsbook, trading cards division, and now prediction markets to its portfolio.

Fanatics Markets launched in December 2025 through a partnership with Crypto.com and CDNA for exchange infrastructure, and through its acquisition of Paragon Global Markets LLC as its CFTC registered introducing broker. The partnership with Crypto.com was announced in November 2025 by Michael Rubin on CNBC. The platform is available in 24 states plus Washington D.C. as of early 2026, with sports contracts restricted in states where legal sports betting already exists. All trading is in USD, funded through standard payment methods with no crypto wallet required.

Platform Profile

What You Can Trade and What Stands Out

Market Categories

Sports: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, and a range of international sports. Individual game markets cover team outcomes, player stats, and performance props in solid depth. Sports is the most developed category on the platform and where the majority of current trading activity sits.

Politics: U.S. elections, congressional control, presidential actions, and major political milestones. Available across the supported state footprint with no sports betting restriction applied.

Economics: Federal Reserve rate decisions, inflation data, unemployment figures, and macro financial outcomes. Well suited for traders who track economic data closely.

Crypto: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana price movement contracts. Added in early 2026 as an official category powered by the CDNA infrastructure.

Climate: Annual temperature ranking markets and measurable environmental outcome contracts. A niche category that has proven more popular than expected and is set to expand into seasonal weather events.

Culture: One of the most distinctive sections on the platform. Fanatics Markets has introduced what it calls Culture Mentions markets, which track social media milestone events, pop culture developments, and entertainment outcomes. This is an area where the 

Fanatics brand identity comes through most clearly, leaning into the intersection of sport, celebrity, and fan culture that the company has built its reputation around.

Trading Model

Order Book Exchange: Peer to peer contracts, prices set entirely by market activity

Binary Contracts: Every market resolves at $1 (Yes) or $0 (No)

Combos: Multi leg contracts combining several outcomes into a single position, similar to a parlay builder

Live In Play Trading: Available for sports markets during events

Market Order and Limit Order: Both available through the app order flow

What Sets It Apart

The Culture Mentions markets are the clearest point of genuine differentiation. No other prediction market has leaned this deliberately into pop culture and social media outcomes as a dedicated trading category. For the Fanatics audience, which spans sports fans, collectors, and entertainment consumers, this is a natural extension of how they already engage with culture.

The Combos feature, which lets you combine multiple contracts into a single position, puts Fanatics Markets alongside OG as one of the few regulated prediction market platforms offering multi-leg contract functionality. Most competitors, including Kalshi and Polymarket, do not currently offer this.

The brand recognition factor is also real in a way that matters for user acquisition. Fanatics has 100 million registered customers. A meaningful number of them will encounter prediction markets for the first time through this app rather than through a standalone platform, which gives Fanatics Markets a distribution advantage that no newcomer can easily replicate.

What People Are Trading Right Now

Most Active Markets

Fanatics Markets most traded contracts in 2026 have included:

• NFL, NBA, and MLB game outcomes and player props
• Federal Reserve rate decision markets
• U.S. midterm election and congressional control contracts
• Bitcoin and Ethereum price level markets
• Culture Mentions markets around major social media and entertainment events
• Climate ranking markets

Biggest Categories by Activity

Sports is the dominant category by volume. The culture section has attracted more engagement than comparable categories on competing platforms, driven partly by the Fanatics brand audience. Economics and politics markets see steady participation from traders who follow macro data and election cycles.

Fastest Moving Markets

Prices tend to shift most sharply around:

• Live sports events during in play trading
• Fed meeting days and inflation data releases
• Breaking political news during election cycles
• Crypto price swings
• Viral cultural moments and social media events

Most Active Categories

Sports, Politics, Economics, Crypto, Culture, Climate

Breaking Down the Costs

Trading Fees

Fanatics Markets charges a per contract trading fee that can go up to $0.20 per contract, following the same fee formula as the underlying CDNA infrastructure. Fees scale with contract price and are highest when a contract sits near $0.50, tapering toward zero at the extremes. Settlement fees are waived for winning contracts held through to resolution, meaning if you buy and hold correctly, the only fee you pay is the opening charge.

For casual users placing occasional trades on major events, the fee level is manageable and comparable to other CDNA powered platforms. For active traders turning over positions frequently, the combined cost of opening fees, spread, and where applicable the 2% card deposit fee can add up meaningfully over time.

Deposit Fees

ACH bank transfers are completely free. Debit card and Apple Pay deposits carry a 2% processing fee. Bank wire deposits have a minimum of $1,000 and no Fanatics side fee, though your bank may apply their own transfer charge.
Withdrawal Fees

There are no withdrawal fees. Withdrawals go through online banking or debit card and typically process within three business days.

Spreads

Major sports markets and high profile political events carry reasonably tight spreads. Thinner markets, particularly in culture and climate where participation is still building, can carry wider spreads that represent a meaningful effective cost even when the stated per contract fee is low. Fanatics Markets does not share order books with Kalshi or Polymarket, so pricing on the same event can differ across platforms.

Where It Wins and Where It Falls Short

Where It Wins

• CFTC regulated through CDNA and NFA registered through Paragon Global Markets
• Culture Mentions markets, a genuinely original category not seen on competing platforms
• Combos feature for multi-leg contracts, only available on a small number of regulated prediction markets
• Live in play sports trading available
• Up to $100 welcome bonus over the first 10 days, one of the more generous new user offers in the space
• Clean, fast mobile app with solid onboarding through Markets 101
• No withdrawal fees
• Minimum deposit of just $5 via ACH or card
• Strong brand recognition giving it a large potential user base through the Fanatics ecosystem
• Available in several states without legal sports betting, giving it access to an underserved audience

Where It Falls Short

• Only available in 24 states, one of the smaller state footprints among regulated competitors
• Sports contracts not available in states with legal sports betting already in place
• Mobile app only, no desktop trading
• Debit card and Apple Pay deposits carry a 2% fee
• Liquidity noticeably thinner than Kalshi across most categories
• No limit order depth visibility in the app, making it harder to assess true market depth before trading
• Culture and climate markets still building volume
• No dedicated trading tools or analytics for active traders
• Fully blocked in states where it is not yet licensed, with no announced timeline for expansion

The Trading Experience Day to Day

App Design

The Fanatics Markets app is clean, fast, and well structured. The home screen surfaces live markets, promotions, and trending contracts at the top. A horizontal category bar covers sports, crypto, politics, climate, economy, and culture. A bottom navigation bar with Home, Live, Sports, Portfolio, and A-Z tabs makes getting around quick. The A-Z section is particularly useful for finding specific markets without having to navigate category by category.

First Time Users

The Markets 101 onboarding section is one of the better newcomer resources in the prediction market space. It explains contract mechanics, settlement rules, and order types clearly in plain language without assuming prior trading knowledge. For Fanatics' core audience, many of whom will be encountering prediction markets for the first time, this kind of guided introduction matters.

Getting Started

Full KYC verification is required and must be completed before you can place any trades. The process is standard and typically completes quickly. You must be 21 or older to participate.

Mobile vs Desktop

Fanatics Markets is mobile only. The iOS and Android apps are well built and responsive even during live events. There is no desktop trading interface at all, which is a meaningful limitation for traders who want to manage multiple positions on a larger screen or use keyboard shortcuts and multiple tabs.

Support

Customer support is available through in app chat, email, and a help centre covering account setup, deposits, market rules, and fees. Response times through in app chat are generally reasonable. The broader Fanatics customer service infrastructure lends some credibility to the support experience compared to newer standalone platforms that are still building their teams.

Volume and Where the Liquidity Lives

Fanatics Markets launched in December 2025 and is still in an early growth phase. Exact trading volume figures are not publicly reported, but sports markets carry the most active order books by some margin. Player props and game outcome markets in the NFL and NBA attract the most consistent participation.

The culture section generates engagement that outpaces what you would expect from a brand new category, likely because the Fanatics audience already lives in the intersection of sports and pop culture that these markets are built around. Economics and politics markets see steady but thinner activity compared to sports.

Liquidity across the board is below what Kalshi offers on equivalent markets. Fanatics Markets and Kalshi do not share order books, so prices on the same event can differ. Active traders who want to place larger positions at tight prices will encounter more slippage here than on the more established platforms. For casual users placing smaller trades on mainstream events, the difference is less noticeable in practice.

The platform's growth trajectory will depend heavily on how quickly it expands its state footprint and how effectively it converts its existing Fanatics customer base into active prediction market traders.

Legal Standing and Where You Can Trade

Regulatory Framework

Fanatics Markets operates through two regulated entities. Trading infrastructure is provided by Crypto.com Derivatives North America (CDNA), a CFTC registered Designated Contract Market. The introducing broker layer is handled by Paragon Global Markets LLC, a registered introducing broker and NFA member. This dual layer structure puts Fanatics Markets on solid federal regulatory ground, operating under the Commodity Exchange Act as a derivatives exchange rather than under state gambling laws.

State Availability

As of early 2026, Fanatics Markets is live in 24 states plus Washington D.C.: Alabama, Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Sports contracts are restricted in states that already have legal sports betting. Users in those states can still access politics, economics, crypto, culture, and climate markets, but sports event contracts are geofenced out. This creates a two tier experience depending on your state, which is worth checking before signing up if sports trading is your primary interest.

Compliance

Full KYC verification is required before trading. Users must be 21 or older. SSL encryption and standard financial platform security protocols are in place. The platform is not available in states outside the licensed footprint, enforced through geolocation.

The Brand, The Buzz, and the Early Track Record

Where Fanatics Markets Sits in the Industry

Fanatics is one of the most recognisable names in sports globally. The prediction markets product is the newest piece of a much larger transformation that CEO Michael Rubin has been driving since acquiring the company. The decision to partner with Crypto.com rather than build exchange infrastructure from scratch was a deliberate choice to prioritise speed to market over proprietary technology, and it shows in how quickly the platform went from announcement to live trading.

The November 2025 CNBC announcement by Michael Rubin drew significant industry attention and positioned Fanatics Markets as a serious entrant rather than a novelty product. Early user reviews have been positive on the app experience and the quality of the sports coverage. The most consistent feedback has been around wanting faster state expansion and deeper liquidity on non-sports categories.

No Major Controversies

As a platform that launched in late 2025, Fanatics Markets has not accumulated any significant controversies or notable disputes. The most relevant context is that the CDNA infrastructure it relies on, shared with Crypto.com's own prediction markets product, has been involved in the broader industry legal battles around sports contract legality at the state level. That is infrastructure level context rather than anything specific to Fanatics Markets itself.

Community

Fanatics Markets is building its community presence through the Fanatics ecosystem, social media channels, and in app engagement features. The culture section is particularly well positioned to drive social sharing and discussion given its focus on viral and trending events. A dedicated Discord or community forum specific to prediction market trading has not yet been established in the way that Kalshi and Polymarket have, but the broader Fanatics fan community provides a substantial existing audience to build from.

How Fanatics Markets Compares

Fanatics Markets' advantages over most competitors are the Culture Mentions category, the brand recognition and existing customer base, the Combos multi-leg feature, and the welcome bonus. Its disadvantages are the smaller state footprint, thinner liquidity, and the mobile only experience.

Is Fanatics Markets Worth It?

Fanatics Markets is one of the more interesting prediction market launches in recent memory, not because of what it does differently on a technical level but because of the audience it can reach. Michael Rubin has built Fanatics into a brand with 100 million customers who are already deeply embedded in the sports world. A prediction market product sitting inside that ecosystem does not have to fight for attention the way a standalone platform does.

The product itself is solid for casual users. The app is clean, the onboarding is genuinely helpful, the welcome offer is generous, and the culture section adds something no competitor currently offers. For someone new to prediction markets who already follows sports, this is a very accessible entry point.

For active traders who want maximum liquidity, tight spreads, and a state footprint that covers the whole country, the platform is not there yet. Liquidity on most categories sits below Kalshi, the 24 state footprint is meaningfully smaller than competitors, and the mobile only setup limits what experienced traders can do with their positions.

The honest picture is that Fanatics Markets is early stage and knows it. The infrastructure is regulated, the brand is exceptional, and the growth potential through the existing customer base is real. What it needs is time to build depth and reach.
Works well for:

Sports fans in the 24 supported states who want a familiar brand entry point into regulated prediction market trading, casual traders who want clean design and helpful onboarding, users in states without legal sports betting who want to trade on sports outcomes, anyone drawn to the Culture Mentions section and multi-leg Combos feature.

Probably not the right fit for: Active traders who need deep liquidity and tightspreads across all categories, users outside the 24 supported states, traders who prefer desktop trading, anyone wanting the full regulated experience across politics, economics, and sports with no state restrictions.

⭐ Overall Rating: 7.3 / 10

A strong brand entry into prediction markets with a genuinely original culture section, still building the liquidity and state coverage to compete at the top level.