Robinhood launches prediction markets in time for March Madness

• Robinhood teams up with Kalshi for prediction markets
• A new standalone product has been released by the company this week
• Robinhood is only the latest platform to pursue prediction market expansion

With the Super Bowl now complete, elections way behind our backs, and college basketball season set to get underway on Thursday, Robinhood has announced that it is relaunching its prediction markets hub allowing users to place a prediction on the outcome of March Madness games.

March Madness is new opportunity for Robinhood

March Madness is one of the most wagered sports in the United States, with the American Gaming Association estimating that a total of $3.1bn will be wagered through the regulated gambling market in 2025 alone.

The prediction markets hub was launched as part of a partnership with KalshiEX LLC, an established company that is already offering prediction markets on a range of events, including politics, sports, and even court trials.

Robinhood has been looking to push past its traditional investment focus and into the world of prediction markets, which is finally happening, with GM of Futures and International at Robinhood, JB Mackenzie, welcoming the opportunity to see this through:

"We believe in the power of prediction markets and think they play an important role at the intersection of news, economics, politics, sports and culture."

The prediction markets hub is a standalone product that is designed to specifically cater to people interested in sports, who wish to back an outcome. However, this type of content has faced a lot of pushbacks, first from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which wrestled with both Kalshi and Robinhood, and then from state-level regulators.

For example, Kalshi was initially asked to leave Nevada, although the Silver State has now given the platform a little more time to mount a defense. At the same time, the regulated sports betting market and tribal gaming operators have been adamant against prediction markets, comparing the sector to sports gambling.

Sports betting giants object to prediction markets – but embrace them

However, Kalshi and other platforms have maintained that their products cannot be betting markets, since the platforms did not set the odds themselves, but let public opinion decide. Robinhood is hardly the only company to be exploring the model.

While mainstream companies begrudging the arrival of prediction markets, some have fallen in line, with DraftKings itself seeking to offer such future prediction markets itself. Despite criticism, prediction markets are in all likelihood here to stay.

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