Two former sportsbooks have moved firmly into the sweepstakes market by launching new platforms this week.
ProphetX, formerly known as Prophet Exchange, and Novig both officially launched their revamped products on Wednesday, Sept. 4.
Former peer-to-peer sports betting exchange ProphetX confirmed on social media that it has launched its new website and mobile sweepstakes product. The new platform offers play-for-fun games as well as contests with prizes with cash value. Like other sweepstakes platforms, there is a dual currency format, where people can buy Prophet Points for real money but will also receive Prophet Cash.
The company announced the impending move at the end of July.
Prophet’s previous version, which had been live since August 2022 as the first regulated sports betting exchange, allowed bettors to wager against each other rather than the sportsbook. It was live in that format in New Jersey, the only state to legally allow exchanges, but shut down its operations in the Garden State in June.
At that time, co-founder and CEO Jake Benzaquen vowed that the company would be “back in more states soon.”
It is now live in numerous states across the U.S., including highly-populated markets like New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Texas, California and Florida.
Novig extends nationwide with prediction market
Also on Wednesday, Novig launched in 42 states and Washington, D.C. under the sweepstakes regulatory framework.
Novig offers two modes: Novig Coins and Novig Cash. In the former, customers free-play play for fun; in the latter, players can redeem real cash prizes.
“Players are fed up with having to play on apps where the house always wins and the odds are stacked against them,” said Jacob Fortinsky, co-founder and CEO of Novig. “On Novig, 43% of users are profitable — compared to an industry average of 3% — and we’re the first app to offer a commission-free sports prediction market.”
The Novig platform offers moneyline, spread, total markets and player props in sports such as the NFL, the NBA, MLB, the WNBA, NCAAF and NCAAB. The company said it intends to expand its offerings over the coming months to include parlays, SGPs, futures, more sports, and a web-based trading interface.
Novig was briefly operational as a sportsbook, having received the green light to enter the Colorado market last fall.
Backed by big-name investors such as legendary NFL quarterback Joe Montana and Dropbox and Instacart founder Jared Heyman, it went live in the state in January. However, it shut down less than four months later citing planned product upgrades as the reason for its closure.
“We were overwhelmed by how well we did in Colorado, and we’re beyond excited to now be able to offer our revolutionary app to sports fans nationwide,” added Fortinsky.
