Robinhood Debuts Rothera Exchange With Massive World Cup Prediction Rollout

  • World Cup prediction market volume already exceeded that of the Super Bowl
  • Bernstein says Robinhood likely to draw “strong tailwinds” from the event
  • The company is routing World Cup trades through Rothera 

Shares of Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) climbed on Monday (June 15) following a bullish Bernstein report highlighting an explosive surge in World Cup prediction markets, where industry trading volume has already eclipsed activity seen during the NFL Super Bowl.

Robinhood
A Robinhood logo. Bernstein says the brokerage firm is getting a World Cup prediction markets boost. (Image: Google Play)

In a new report, Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani estimates that prediction market operators handled $2.2 billion in transactions on June 11, but that figured more than doubled to $4.8 billion last Friday (June 12) — the day the US played Paraguay in its opening World Cup match.

The $4.8 billion in prediction market volume through the first few days of the tournament is more than triple the $1.4 billion yes/no exchanges handled during the Super Bowl.

Prediction markets World Cup turnover, including Robinhood’s, is off to an encouraging start when considering some of the marquee teams, such as Argentina, England and France, have yet to play their first games. Likewise, that volume could stay elevated the longer the US side remains in the tournament.

Bernstein estimates that with the help of the quadrennial football event, Robinhood’s 2026 prediction market revenue could swell to $586 million from $150 million last year. If that proves accurate, that figure would represent 17% of the brokerage firm’s transaction-based revenue and 10% of total revenue.

Another Reason World Cup Volume Is Meaningful to Robinhood

News of what Chhugani describes as “strong tailwinds” on the back of the World Cup arrives at an important time for Robinhood because prior to the start of the competition, the company said it would route World Cup trades through Rothera — a prediction market in which it holds a stake.

Robinhood, which says prediction markets are one of its fastest-growing segments, long partnered with Kalshi on event contracts and that partnership is still in place, but the brokerage house said the plan is to gradually scale Rothera over time, implying the company wants to keep more prediction markets revenue for itself.

Looked at another way, Robinhood is using the World Cup as something of proving ground for Rothera. With the benefit of the company’s deep distribution advantages, the strategy appears to be working. Earlier this month, the trading platform unveiled a new pricing structure under which traders pay commissions based on contract price and order size.

Robinhood Gold members can save up to 50% on those transaction costs. The company is routing select World Cup and Major League Baseball trades through Rothera.

Other Prediction Market World Cup Winners

With Kalshi and Polymarket still privately held entities, investors and traders embrace the likes of Robinhood among public companies to express views on the prediction market industry.

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) and DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) are part of that group as well and the latter is experiencing a surge in event contracts volume in its own right.

Coinbase and DraftKings were also mentioned by Bernstein as potential World Cup prediction market beneficiaries. The research firm says the industry at large could generate as much as $10 billion in volume by the time the tournament ends next month.

Todd Shriber
Todd Shriber Financial Reporter

Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org.

Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019.

Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com.

He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better.

Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.

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