DraftKings-owned Railbird Exchange, doing business as DKeX, has self-certified multi-leg “combos” and nine football event contracts with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to an Aug. 10 regulatory filing. The submission states the contracts will become certified by August 11, 2026, and listed for trading thereafter.
DraftKings self-certification and how it works
Railbird filed to offer “combos,” the prediction-market equivalent of traditional parlays, and described those instruments as swaps. As the filing states, “The Contracts settle on a joint outcome of two or more constituent contracts listed on DKeX and subject to the terms of Chapter 13 of the DKeX Rulebook.” Under the CFTC self-certification process, a prediction-market operator notifies the commission of intended event contracts and their start date; absent intervention or a request for more information, the contracts go live on that date.
Football event contracts and timing
Railbird’s Aug. 10 filing also revealed plans for nine football event contracts that mirror sportsbook-style offerings, including side and total equivalents, player proposition–style markets and play-award markets such as MVPs. The filing explains that “The Contracts settle on whether a designated football player or coach earns a specified season-long award, as officially confirmed by the awarding body, subject to the terms of the contract and market specifications and Chapter 13 of the DKeX Rulebook.” DKeX could begin offering those event contracts as soon as the next day if the CFTC does not intervene; the timing is notable because the 2026 NFL season begins in about a month.
Railbird was acquired by DraftKings last October and the company officially launched the in-house exchange in late June. DraftKings’ prediction-market arm had already offered multi-leg bets since May through a partnership with Crypto.com; Railbird’s filings confirm DraftKings’ move to solidify a vertically integrated prediction-market operation. Crypto.com provides infrastructure and trade routing services to other operators including Fanatics and FanDuel, and there is speculation the brokerage firm is in talks with Robinhood Markets regarding a prediction-market deal.
