Robinhood is considering entering the regulated sports betting industry following the success of its event contracts during last month’s presidential election.
The commission-free stock trading platform is discussing the potential launch of sports betting products, according to the company’s latest Investor Day presentation. The consideration of entering the sports betting market comes after Robinhood’s Derivatives product accepted more than 100 million event contracts for the 2024 presidential election.
Robinhood made the contracts available following a favorable U.S. District Court ruling.
“We are interested in exploring all kinds of events,” said Robinhood CEO and co-founder Vladimir Tenev. “A lot of people have been talking about the potential for sports event contracts and taking that into the regulated space. Our customers who index on millennial and Gen Z are interested in sports in general. So, we’re keenly looking into that space.”
Robinhood made political event contracts available to a limited number of its customers who met certain criteria, including being a U.S. citizen and approved for margin investing. The financial institution made the contracts available for 12 hours each day ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Robinhood plans to settle its contracts on Jan. 7 with payouts a day later.
Kalshi, a prediction market and regulated exchange, also took advantage of the District Court ruling by offering political event contracts on last month’s election. Kalshi and Robinhood combined for more than $300 million in election event contracts. Prediction market Polymarket also reported over $3 billion in volume for its election shares.
