Robinhood Suspends Superbowl Bets
Commentary by Steven Lofchie
Robinhood suspended the rollout of the Pro Football Championship market following a formal CFTC request that the firm "not permit customers to access" sports event contracts.
In a statement, Robinhood said it rolled the product out to "roughly 1% of our customers, and for those who already placed trades, we plan on providing the option to close their positions or take them to resolution."
A CFTC spokesperson stated: "the CFTC has serious concerns about FCMs offering access to their customers to any contract that may not be permissible under the law and will exercise its oversight authority to the fullest extent as appropriate."
Robinhood expressed disappointment about the outcome, given the firm (i) "had been in regular communication with the CFTC about [its] intent and plans to offer this product" and (ii) "[took] steps to advocate for balanced regulation in the futures and derivatives markets, including participating directly in a CFTC roundtable, providing written feedback to the CFTC."
Commentary
The Superbowl contract puts front and center a very important question: is there any inherent difference between an event contract and a bet on a sporting event, or on anything else? Should futures exchanges be permitted to offer contracts on any event, or only events that have economic significance (outside of the contract itself)?
Below is a list of some of the contracts that are presently available to trade on Kalshi:
- what songs will be played at the halftime show;
- top USA song on Spotify today;
- when will the LA fire chief leave;
- will Trump declassify the Epstein documents;
- what will be the Billboard #1 song on February 22; and
- Oscar for best picture.