Robinhood Expands Prediction Markets to Football
Robinhood has announced that it is expanding its prediction markets to include professional and college football, opening trading on outcomes of both NFL and Power Four college games. The new markets are gradually rolling out and will be available to customers within days, with the first offerings covering the opening two weeks of the regular football season before weekly matchups are introduced.
The company announcement emphasized that these products differ from traditional sports betting. Instead of wagers against one of the best sports betting sites, customers buy and sell contracts with each other, with market prices shifting based on demand.
Trading will run daily between set hours, and Robinhood VP of Futures and International JB Mackenzie said the addition of football events was an obvious step as the firm builds out its broader prediction market platform.
"Adding pro and college football to our prediction markets hub is a no-brainer for us as we aim to make Robinhood a one-stop shop for all your investing and trading needs," he said in a statement.
The launch highlights Robinhood's deeper move into the sports-related trading arena. During its second-quarter earnings call in July, Chief Financial Officer Jason Warnick noted that engagement has been strongest in sports-focused products, while CEO Vlad Tenev described sports contracts as a significant growth opportunity.
Robinhood has already seen more than two billion contracts exchanged since introducing prediction markets late last year. With customer activity expanding, the company has also been navigating heightened regulatory attention as state authorities question whether its event contracts fall under gambling laws. The move will help it compete directly with the best prediction markets.
The launch comes almost simultaneously with an effort by Kalshi to introduce certain player props and spread betting to its prediction markets platform.
Robinhood challenges state regulators
That regulatory scrutiny surfaced this week as Robinhood filed lawsuits against gaming officials in Nevada and New Jersey. The cases, submitted in federal district courts on Tuesday, seek to prevent state regulators from blocking the broker's sports-related event contracts, which are offered through Kalshi.
Robinhood argues that these contracts are federally regulated commodities, not wagers, and therefore exempt from state-level gambling restrictions. Event contracts allow customers to trade on outcomes such as election results or game winners, with Kalshi designated as a contract market by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2020.
The complaints highlight recent federal rulings in Nevada and New Jersey granting Kalshi preliminary relief on similar grounds, where courts found that federal futures law likely preempts state gambling statutes. However, a Maryland court reached a different conclusion earlier this year, creating a divide in judicial interpretation.
Robinhood said it pursued legal action after resuming customer access to sports contracts in Nevada and New Jersey without reaching regulatory agreements. The broker contends it faces immediate risk of penalties or prosecution in both states and maintains that federal oversight should supersede state attempts to classify the activity as gambling.
