Players who want to wager on NCAA and NFL football but don’t want to do it with a regulated sportsbook have a new option this week as Robinhood rolls out its new football prediction markets. It’s a brazen move from a corner of the financial world that’s labelled sports betting as an investment vehicle and created real headaches for regulated sports betting operators.
Investors (not bettors) can currently place predictions (not wagers) on a selected slate of NFL and NCAA football games scheduled for the first three weeks of the season. Robinhood has made it clear that it intends to offer prediction opportunities for the whole NFL and NCAA schedules by week four of the season.
Robinhood is jumping on a bandwagon in the predictions market world that regulated sports betting operators are desperate to stop. After all, the financial and bureaucratic barriers involved with setting up a regulated sportsbook are much higher than simply labeling your operation as a “predictions market” and operating under a much less rigorous regulatory scheme.
JB Mackenzie, VP & GM of Futures and International at Robinhood said as much in a recent press release stating, “Football is far and away the most popular sport in America. 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.”
And just in case any customers found themselves at Robinhood thinking that they were going to place a bet on a game, rather than a prediction on a commodity, the company’s website includes a helpful reminder stating, “Robinhood event contracts allow for speculation in prediction markets — these are not bets.”