Robinhood Expands Sports Event Contracts With Player Performance Wagers

Robinhood has expanded its lineup of sports-focused event contracts, allowing customers to wager on the individual performances of professional football players, marking another step in the brokerage’s push into prediction-style markets. The new offering enables users to make contracts tied to specific player outcomes, such as whether a player scores a touchdown or how many passing or rushing yards they record, rather than only betting on the final result of a game.

Previously, Robinhood users could already take positions on broader outcomes like which team would win. By introducing player-based event contracts, the Menlo Park, California-based company aims to differentiate itself in an increasingly competitive market that has attracted a surge of new platforms and financial products tied to sports and real-world events. According to Adam Hickerson, senior director of futures at Robinhood, being early to market has allowed the company to refine its product and respond to user demand for more granular options.

The move, however, comes as regulators in several U.S. states are calling for stricter oversight of prediction markets. Critics argue that event contracts closely resemble sports betting and could encourage speculative behavior among retail investors. Despite these concerns, industry participants maintain that event contracts fall under federal derivatives regulations and are overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Hickerson said Robinhood intends to fully comply with all CFTC rules, though he declined to comment on ongoing legal challenges facing the sector.

In addition to player performance contracts, Robinhood has launched “preset combos,” which allow users to bundle multiple predictions from a single game into one contract. These combined contracts only pay out if every selected outcome is correct, adding another layer of complexity and potential reward.

Event contracts gained significant momentum ahead of last year’s U.S. presidential election, highlighting growing interest in prediction markets. Typically, a correct prediction pays out $1 per contract. According to a report from crypto investor Keyrock and blockchain data firm Dune, the monthly trading value of prediction markets has surged to more than $13 billion, up dramatically from under $100 million in early 2024.