Robinhood has launched “Custom Combos” for U.S. professional football prediction markets, rolling out the product as the NFL postseason heats up Friday. The contracts let users combine up to ten outcomes and are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The product resembles parlays offered by DraftKings and FanDuel, but operates differently because Kalshi facilitates wagers using Requests For Quotes. When a user creates a combo, market makers anonymously submit quotes and users receive the best available price.
A company spokesperson said “Conceptually they are similar, but the way the contracts work is entirely different.” The spokesperson also said “Unlike the house that unilaterally sets its odds, any participant in a prediction market will be able to submit a quote to take the other side of an RFQ.”
When Kalshi issues an RFQ, anyone can submit bids through Kalshi’s API, though the process needs technical knowledge. The platform’s RFQs and market data can be viewed in example markets such as this example market.
Robinhood first showed Custom Combos at a mid-December event where CEO Vlad Tenev said prediction markets would change “the future of finance and news.” A company blog post called prediction markets the firm’s fastest-growing product line by revenue.
Shares were near $110, up roughly 140% year-over-year, per stock data. In October, analysts at Compass Point said they had grown bullish and noted the firm charges $0.01 per contract on Kalshi-powered markets.
Data shows Kalshi handled about $1.8 billion in sports volume, representing 91% of activity, according to a data dashboard. One social post highlighted sports made up 40% of volume on Polymarket, per a social post.
The NFL postseason remains a top betting period, the American Gaming Association said in reporting in news coverage. Custom Combos are available in all U.S. states except Maryland and Nevada, and a survey noted parlays rose to 30% participation in 2024 from 17% in 2018, raising concerns about loss-chasing per the survey (Ed. note: courts are still debating how to classify these markets).
