About this app
What is Mermaids?
Polymarket and other prediction markets that ventured into sports trading last year maintain that they’re financial platforms governed by federal law.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) agrees, continuing to defend its claimed “exclusive jurisdiction” over sports prediction markets in federal and state courts across the nation.
The legal wrangling extends to Michigan, where Attorney General Dana Nessel has rejected Polymarket and the CFTC’s arguments that the Michigan Gaming Control Board has no regulatory authority over prediction markets, even the ones allowing traders to buy and sell shares of sports outcomes.
What is Mermaids?
In 2012, Sanum and Lao Holdings, an Aruba-based company created to hold the investors’ interests in Sanum, accused Laos of trying to force them out of the country after Savan Vegas had become successful.
They took the dispute to international arbitration, claiming Laos had violated investment treaties protecting their businesses.
The two sides reached a settlement in 2014, but that agreement also fell apart, and the casino companies renewed their claims.
About Mermaids
FanDuel remains the leading US sportsbook, while Flutter’s international businesses provide additional sources of growth. But that quality comes with high expectations.
Beynon describes Flutter as “the highest-quality online betting franchise globally”, with FanDuel’s leadership position providing “significant long-term value”. The problem is that the market is increasingly questioning how much future earnings growth can be generated from that position as the industry matures.
DraftKings is a different proposition. Its share price went from $43.30 on 18 September 2025, to $21.75 upon market closure last week. Beynon says it “arguably offers the greatest operational upside if it can continue converting strong customer growth into sustained profitability”. Its prediction market strategy could also become an advantage if the new market proves complementary to sportsbook betting.
