Robinhood has added professional and college football to its growing range of prediction markets.
The brokerage said more than two billion contracts have been traded since it first launched prediction markets late last year.
The new offering, available through the Prediction Markets Hub in the Robinhood app, allows customers to trade contracts on the outcomes of professional games and college matchups across all Power 4 conferences and independent schools.
“Football is far and away the most popular sport in America,” Robinhood vice president of futures and international JB Mackenzie (pictured) said.
“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.”
At launch, contracts will cover the opening two weeks of the football season, with weekly matchups added as the season progresses.
“Unlike sports betting, where the firm sets a line, event contracts leverage the power and rigour of financial market structure and are offered in a marketplace where buyers and sellers interact to set the price,” the company said.
Traders can enter, adjust, or exit positions up to and throughout a game before contracts expire.
The expansion comes as Robinhood and other providers of sport event contracts face mounting legal scrutiny.
Several US states have challenged the business model, alleging that prediction markets offered on sporting events are, in practice, a form of unregulated sports betting.
The critics argue the products bypass state gambling frameworks and consumer protections, while Robinhood maintains they are financial instruments overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
A Robinhood spokesperson told nextpredict.io/: “Our event contracts, including those for pro and college football, are offered in a compliant, federally regulated way through our CFTC registered Futures Commission Merchant, Robinhood Derivatives. This is a decisive step forward in our mission to democratize finance for all and unlock even more innovative market opportunities for investors.”
Robinhood sues NJDGE
Yesterday (19 August), Robinhood also filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey against the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE).
The company is seeking a permanent injunction and declaratory relief to prevent New Jersey from enforcing its state gambling laws against Robinhood’s sports-related event contracts.
In March, the NJDGE issued cease-and-desist orders to Robinhood and its partner Kalshi, over alleged violations of state sports wagering laws.
Robinhood’s complaint argues that federal law, specifically the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), preempts state gambling regulations.
The filing cites previous court rulings in which Kalshi successfully argued for preliminary relief against the NJDGE.
In those cases, the court granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, finding that New Jersey law was likely preempted by the CEA.
Despite these rulings, the NJDGE has refused to agree not to take enforcement action against Robinhood.
The complaint stated that Robinhood and NJDGE’s officials met in May to discuss the issue, but the division still has not responded to Robinhood’s request for a follow-up meeting.
In response, the brokerage reactivated access to the contracts for its New Jersey customers and filed the lawsuit to protect its business and customers from potential criminal and civil penalties.
Broader ambitions
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has previously indicated that betting is culturally important to customers.
In 2024, analysts cautioned that Robinhood would face steep challenges in competing with established leaders such as FanDuel and DraftKings, which control the majority of the US market.
Some believe acquisitions may be the only viable route for Robinhood to gain traction.
For now, the company’s focus remains on prediction markets as a bridge between finance, culture, and sport.
“Ultimately, our goal is to enable anyone, anywhere, to trade, invest or hold any financial asset and conduct any financial transaction through Robinhood,” it said.
Strong demand for sports contracts
Robinhood highlighted the growing popularity of prediction markets during its Q2 2025 earnings call, reporting close to one billion contracts traded in the quarter alone.
“Since we launched, customers have engaged in over 100 million economic contracts, so really nice. A large percentage of the transactions in prediction markets are with sports, and we love to see our customers engage in that way as well,” CFO Jason Warnick said.
“I think we can tell by the engagement by customers that it’s a product that is resonating,” he added.
CEO Tenev confirmed that sports remain a key focus, given limited competition in that space.
“A good chunk of it is sports, but we’ve also been focused on that because that’s an area where not a lot of our competitors are present. So, we see that as a big opportunity and we’ve been investing,” Tenev said.