Robinhood launches football prediction markets, major sports deals abound

Robinhood launches new pro and college football prediction markets. The company's vice president, JB Mackenzie, discusses the launch on Yahoo Finance Sports Report. Other sports business news includes MLB's broadcast deals with NBC, ESPN, and Netflix, WNBA smashing attendance records, and NFL's partnership with Microsoft.

Robinhood Derivatives, LLC (RHD) has launched pro and college football prediction markets directly within the Robinhood app. The new markets are available through the Prediction Markets Hub, allowing users to trade on the outcomes of popular pro and college football games. This includes all regular season pro matchups and all college Power 4 schools and independents [1].

The launch comes after Robinhood reported more than 2 billion contracts traded on its prediction markets since their inception at the end of last year [1]. The company aims to make Robinhood a one-stop shop for all investing and trading needs, including sports markets [1].

"Football is far and away the most popular sport in America," said JB Mackenzie, VP & GM of Futures and International at Robinhood. "Adding pro and college football to our prediction markets hub is a no-brainer for us" [1].

Unlike traditional sports betting, where a firm sets a line, event contracts on Robinhood are traded in a marketplace where buyers and sellers interact to set the price [1]. This structure offers real-time risk management, allowing customers to adjust or exit their positions before a contract expires.

The new markets are available to all eligible customers in the coming days, with contracts for the first two weeks of the pro and college seasons already live [1]. Weekly matchups will be added as the season progresses.

Robinhood's expansion into sports prediction markets is part of a broader strategy to integrate various financial services under federal oversight. The company has faced legal challenges in states like Maryland over gambling law compliance, but it believes that its offerings are not required to comply with state laws due to preemption by the Commodity Exchange Act [2].

The launch of these markets coincides with KalshiEX LLC's expansion to include point spreads and prop bets, further differentiating Robinhood's offerings from traditional sports betting [3]. KalshiEX, which operates under CFTC regulation, has filed to offer certain player prop event contracts but has not yet made them available to customers [3].

In other sports business news, MLB has signed broadcast deals with NBC, ESPN, and Netflix, the WNBA has smashed attendance records, and the NFL has partnered with Microsoft [4]. These developments underscore the growing importance of sports as a significant revenue stream for media companies and tech giants.

References:
[1] https://newsroom.aboutrobinhood.com/pro-and-college-football-prediction-markets/
[2] https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/news/betting/robinhood-launches-pro-college-football-prediction-markets/
[3] https://www.ainvest.com/news/robinhood-kalshi-redefine-betting-real-time-football-prediction-markets-2508/