{"id":78291,"date":"2026-09-17T09:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T09:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/draftkings-ceo-says-prediction-market-wins-are-sinking-his-own-stock\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T09:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T09:38:23","slug":"draftkings-ceo-says-prediction-market-wins-are-sinking-his-own-stock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/draftkings-ceo-says-prediction-market-wins-are-sinking-his-own-stock\/","title":{"rendered":"Draftkings CEO Says Prediction Market Wins Are Sinking His Own Stock"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"@container mb-[25px] rounded-sm overflow-clip py-0.5 pr-0.5 pl-2.5 bg-success-100\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-m overflow-clip rounded-[6px] !bg-success-10 p-3 @[420px]:p-m\">\n<h2 class=\"m-0 flex items-center gap-s text-[19px] !text-[#1c1c1c] md:text-[20px]\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"10\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 10\" fill=\"none\" class=\"shrink-0 text-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M1 1.5h14\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M1 8.5h10\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/svg><span>Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"m-0 flex list-none flex-col gap-m pl-0\">\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Jason Robins called a Fortune report on a $30M insider marketing deal a \u201ctotal hit piece.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">He says Draftkings shares fall on good prediction market news and rise on court losses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Draftkings stock closed up 4.29% the day the Ninth Circuit ruled against Kalshi.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>A Stock That Moves Against Its Own Company<\/h2>\n<p>Robins was interviewed by Front Office Sports editor-in-chief Dan Roberts at the outlet\u2019s Asset Class event in New York on Tuesday, and <a href=\"https:\/\/frontofficesports.com\/article\/draftkings-ceo-fires-back-at-headline-calling-company-struggling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">was asked about an August Fortune story<\/a> headlined \u201cExclusive: Struggling DraftKings awards $30 million marketing contract to cofounder who recently stepped down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a total hit piece, so obviously they\u2019re gonna throw that in there,\u201d he said in response, adding, \u201clisten, they can put whatever they want in the headline. As you know there\u2019s not much oversight of those things so I don\u2019t know what they\u2019re basing that on other than our stock being down I guess but business itself certainly isn\u2019t struggling. We\u2019re doing great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the same conversation, he described a disconnect he says he has not encountered in six years as a public company: Draftkings is <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/draftkings-drops-crypto-com-launches-own-prediction-market-exchange\/\">building a prediction markets business<\/a>, yet its shares move as though it were not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s getting beaten up on predictions, and we like predictions, so it\u2019s this bizarre thing where we see a headline that is positive on predictions, and everyone in the company celebrates and our stock goes down,\u201d he said. \u201cOr we see like the Ninth Circuit rules against predictions, and we\u2019re like, ugh, and the stock pops and so it\u2019s this weird disconnect between us feeling happy about things or not happy, and the stock having this completely opposite reaction, which is a first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 28, when a Ninth Circuit panel <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/igaming\/ninth-circuit-ruling-sets-up-a-kalshi-supreme-court-fight-on-sept-3\/\">ruled that Nevada could enforce its gaming laws against Kalshi<\/a>, Draftkings closed up 4.29%, making its strongest session in a month of trading. The company\u2019s shares trade under $25 and are down more than 50% since early 2025. The company acquired Railbird to obtain a federal license, has <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/draftkings-flutter-grab-market-maker-role-undercut-peer-to-peer-prediction-claim\/\">taken market-maker roles<\/a> on rival venues alongside Flutter, and holds a seat on the <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/igaming\/cftc-seats-kalshi-polymarket-draftkings-on-its-new-advisory-panel\/\">CFTC\u2019s new advisory committee<\/a> beside Kalshi and Polymarket executives.<\/p>\n<p>Robins did not address the substance of the Fortune report, which <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2026\/08\/26\/exclusive-draftkings-former-president-insider-30-million-marketing-deal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documented an agreement<\/a> giving Draftkings the option to spend up to $30 million over three years with HardScope, a creator-marketing company wholly owned by cofounder Matthew Kalish. Per the report, the deal was signed six weeks before Kalish stepped down as president in March, and HardScope is entitled to a commission of up to 14%. Both sides told Fortune the arrangement was approved by the independent audit committee, and Kalish said the commission was more favorable than what the company pays other agencies.<\/p>\n<p>Fortune\u2019s central point was governance. Its members are chosen by a board on which all three cofounders sit, and Robins controls roughly 88% of voting power on shares representing about 2% of the company\u2019s economic interest. Harvard Law School corporate governance expert Jesse Fried called that \u201ca big red flag,\u201d saying the structure means \u201csomebody with only a tiny amount of economic exposure to the company could control it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked about Kalish, who has become a vocal critic of Kalshi since leaving, Robins said he no longer controls what his former colleague says. \u201cWhen he worked for us, I could tell him what to do, and I can\u2019t anymore,\u201d he said, adding that he believes Kalish\u2019s views come from his own experience as a bettor. The CEO said he did not know what the \u201cstruggling\u201d characterization rested on beyond the share price.<\/p>\n<p>Fortune\u2019s account cited a quarterly loss of more than $67 million against nearly $158 million in net income a year earlier, revenue down more than 4% despite over $320 million in sales and marketing spend, and a cumulative deficit approaching $6.5 billion. It also noted the company\u2019s own annual filing, warning that competitive pressure threatens its business model.<\/p>\n<p>The wider picture is one that the industry has been arguing about all season. The American Gaming Association forecast $29.5 billion in legal NFL wagering this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/igaming\/casino-lobby-blames-prediction-markets-for-first-flat-nfl-betting-season\/\">effectively flat against last<\/a>, and blamed prediction markets for the stall \u2013 an argument Draftkings is not straightforwardly party to, having <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/six-months-in-the-aga-exodus-has-reshaped-us-gamblings-lobbying-landscape\/\">left the association last November<\/a> over its stance on exactly this product.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/igaming\/draftkings-ceo-says-prediction-market-wins-are-sinking-his-own-stock\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways Jason Robins called a Fortune report on a $30M insider marketing deal a \u201ctotal hit piece.\u201d He says Draftkings shares fall on good prediction market news and rise on court losses. Draftkings stock closed up 4.29% the day the Ninth Circuit ruled against Kalshi. A Stock [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3947362403,"featured_media":78292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3947362403"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}