NEXTPredict NYC, billed as the first major summit dedicated to prediction markets, is set to draw 2,500 attendees when it convenes in New York City, organizers announced Wednesday. The inaugural event positions itself at the intersection of financial markets, regulatory oversight and emerging wagering infrastructure — a converging space that increasingly touches hospitality and foodservice operators navigating sports-betting adjacencies and entertainment-driven traffic strategies.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robbins is the anchor speaker, joining a roster that spans institutional finance and media. Confirmed participants include executives from Blackstone, Bloomberg Intelligence, Bank of America and CNBC. The breadth of the speaker lineup signals that prediction markets are drawing scrutiny and investment well beyond their origins in consumer-facing sportsbook platforms — a dynamic with downstream implications for operators building entertainment-led concepts around live wagering environments.
For commercial foodservice operators, the rise of prediction markets and regulated sports betting has already reshaped daypart strategy and venue programming. Bar-and-grill chains, sports-bar formats and quick-service operators with entertainment overlays have leaned into betting-adjacent traffic as a supplemental revenue and dwell-time driver. Events like NEXTPredict NYC represent the maturation of that ecosystem into an institutional conversation — one where regulatory frameworks, vendor technology and capital allocation are being formalized at scale.
The 2,500-operator attendance figure underscores demand for structured dialogue around a market segment that has expanded rapidly since PASPA's repeal in 2018. Area development agreements tied to sportsbook-adjacent food-and-beverage venues have multiplied in that window, and franchise operators in entertainment-dining categories are increasingly factoring wagering-driven traffic into AUV projections and site-selection models.
No financial disclosures or unit-economics data were released in connection with the summit announcement. Further speaker and agenda details are expected ahead of the event date. Operators and vendors seeking to understand the regulatory and commercial architecture of prediction markets will find the NEXTPredict NYC program a rare concentrated forum for that intelligence.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.