Robinhood Derivatives has introduced pro and college football prediction markets directly within its app.
The online trading platform currently has contracts on the first two weeks of the NFL and NCAAF seasons. More markets will become available, starting with Week 3 games being added after Week 1. The intention is to ultimately take predictions on all regular-season pro matchups and all NCAA Power 4 schools as well as Notre Dame.
Robinhood said that adding football markets in time for the new season was “a no-brainer” for its business.
“Football is far and away the most popular sport in America,” said Robinhood VP & GM of Futures and International JB Mackenzie. “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.”
Robinhood is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a Designated Contract Market (DCM) and its prediction markets on current events, politics, sports and more are available across the U.S.
In a statement on Tuesday, it reiterated its position that event contracts are not sports betting as they are provided within a financial market structure wherein buyers and sellers interact to set the price.
“Robinhood event contracts allow for speculation in prediction markets — these are not bets,” insists the company on its website.
Kalshi making big plays ahead of NFL season
Robinhood offers markets powered by Kalshi in its Prediction Markets Hub via a deal between the two firms that was unveiled earlier in 2025, around the time of March Madness.
Robinhood announced its new football contracts on the same day that Kalshi began offering an array of pro betting-style contracts on football. On Monday, Aug. 18, Kalshi posted self-certifications with the CFTC for markets that resemble point spreads, point totals and touchdown prop wagers.
As of Tuesday morning, spread and point total event contracts were available on Kalshi’s platform.
In a statement provided to SBC Americas, Kalshi said the move was an attempt to meet “surging demand” from consumers, as well as to provide another regulated option for gamblers.
Robinhood and Kalshi tout huge demand for sports
Three weeks ago, Robinhood executives said on an earnings call that “a large percentage” of the company’s approximately $1 billion worth of prediction markets trading last quarter was on sports.
“A good chunk of it is sports,” said CEO Vlad Tenev. “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.”
Executives promised at that time that Robinhood intended to broaden the range and number of prediction market contracts it offers its customers, including more sports. “We can tell by the engagement by customers that it’s a product that is resonating,” noted CFO Jason Warnick.
Kalshi and Robinhood’s big steps into what is tantamount to betting on football come as the regulatory and legal scrutiny of sports contract trading continues. Kalshi isembroiled in multiple court cases in the U.S. that allege that sports prediction markets equate to a form of sports betting that is unauthorized at the state level and Robinhood is named in a lawsuit brought forth by several California tribes. The platforms contend that the CFTC’s federal right to regulate DCMs supersedes state gaming laws.
