DraftKings co-founder Paul Liberman has indicated the company would be more than happy to offer controversial microbetting markets on the platform.
The admission comes despite the company facing a lawsuit alleging that it is encouraging gambling addiction through these kinds of markets.
Microbetting is typically gambling on specific in-play events during live sports, such as the next possession in basketball, the next play in football, or the next pitch in baseball.
“Prediction markets have been amazingly quick at innovating and adding categories, really, really quickly,” stated Liberman when speaking on a panel at the 29th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday.
“I think that in sports, we’re gonna see faster, more dynamic micro markets appear that don’t exist yet. We’ve seen that already with RFQs and parlays,” he added. “I think you’re gonna continue to see innovation there in terms of how dynamic the prediction markets are gonna be able to be on sports.”
Microbetting Fueling Gambling Industry Growth
Live or in-play betting accounted for 62.35% of the betting-type share in 2025, according to a report by Mordor Intelligence.
“This growth is bolstered by advancements in low-latency streaming infrastructure and the rise of micro-betting products, enabling wagers on outcomes as specific as the next pitch, serve, or possession,” the report stated.
DraftKings made an entry into the microbetting market in 2024 by acquiring Simplebet for nearly $200 million.
“What micro markets did was they expanded the betting platform to be operational throughout the game. It keeps you engaged,” Matthew Bakowicz, a former DraftKings sportsbook manager, told CasinoBeats in an interview earlier this year.
Sportsbook Experience Superior, Says Liberman
The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHIA) filed the lawsuit against DraftKings as well as FanDuel, the NFL, and data provider Genius Sports, alleging the organizations are complicit in encouraging gambling addiction through microbetting.
It describes how these rapid wagers placed on individual pitches, plays, shots, or other in-game moments affect bettors, claiming it induces a “trancelike state called ‘dark flow’ in which [individuals] become completely absorbed by the game.”
Liberman said the sportsbook experience, which the lawsuit heavily criticized, remains superior to the prediction market experience.
“What we have found is that sportsbooks offer, for sports, a better consumer experience than prediction markets overall,” Liberman replied.
“For our customers that are in sportsbook jurisdictions, they prefer to still do business with a sportsbook. We’ve done a lot of surveys. We know that we are able to give them promotions and offers, and it’s a more engaging experience overall.“
Is Wagering on Prediction Markets the Same as Sports Betting?
While the sportsbook experience has been more calibrated to engage bettors, placing a wager on a prediction market is similar, Liberman admitted.
For the end user, putting a bet on the sportsbook or trading on the Celtics “definitely feel[s] as though it’s the same,” he said.
Kalshi board member Brian Quintenz was also on the panel alongside Liberman. Quintenz was nominated to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), but his nomination was withdrawn amid backlash over his potential appointment.
Quintenz was more reluctant to say that sports prediction markets are the same as sports betting.
“I think there’s a difference between speculation and gambling,” he stated. “Speculation in the financial markets is wagering or trading where there is more of an economic impact than just the money that is being traded, right?”
That has been the position of Kalshi and the CFTC under Quintenz’s replacement, Michael Selig, to lead the organization.
Quintenz added, “Is anyone gonna sit here and tell me that there is no economic, financial, or commercial consequence to who wins or loses the Super Bowl?”
Microbetting at Prediction Markets Likely to Incur Backlash
That argument might be more difficult to make if prediction markets expand into micromarkets. Is there an economic, financial, or commercial consequence to whether the next pitch in a baseball game is a ball or a strike?
Player unions have already requested that the CFTC ban companies from offering player prop markets.
With growing backlash against microbetting markets at sportsbooks and a slew of lawsuits already facing prediction markets over their sports markets, creating micromarkets would appear to be adding fuel to the fire. DraftKings, no stranger to lawsuits challenging the company’s practices, appears unperturbed.
“I think both are actually really positive and that’s why we engage on both sides,” Liberman said of sports betting and prediction markets. “They’re both great. They’re different. They have their different values.”
Prediction Markets: An Entry Into States With No Sports Betting
The value at the moment appears to be that prediction markets give DraftKings access to sports bettors in states such as Texas and California, where gambling is not yet legal.
“Ultimately, with DraftKings, if we can participate in the different states, we are going to participate, and we would love to offer the products wherever we can pass legislation,” Liberman added.
He said the company wants a decisive ruling on the legality of the markets, commenting, “We are pro the federal government taking a more active stance and saying, ‘Sports is legal and accepted, and we can do it as a prediction market.’”
