Robinhood has expanded its 2026 FIFA World Cup prediction market offering by launching contracts through Rothera, a derivatives exchange it co-owns with Susquehanna International Group. The move marks the first time Robinhood has routed significant event contracts through its own affiliated exchange rather than relying entirely on Kalshi, which has powered most of the platform's prediction market volume since launching in March 2025.
Rothera, formerly known as LedgerX, already held a Commodity Futures Trading Commission license before Robinhood and SIG acquired a majority stake. World Cup contracts were self-certified with the CFTC on May 27, with the full product suite going live ahead of the tournament's June 11 kickoff. The World Cup runs through 104 matches across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with the final scheduled for July 19.
What's Routing Through Rothera vs. Kalshi
Robinhood is not abandoning Kalshi. The platform has implemented a split routing model where core, high-volume contracts including individual match outcomes, the overall tournament winner, spreads, and total goals markets are handled by Rothera. Player-specific contracts, parlay-style combinations, and more complex tournament props continue to route through Kalshi. Routing decisions for individual contracts during the tournament will be based on market liquidity and resolution clarity.
The economic logic for Robinhood is clear. By routing its most actively traded World Cup contracts through an exchange it controls, Robinhood captures more of the fee revenue from those trades rather than sharing it with Kalshi. Robinhood CFO Shiv Verma has indicated that most prediction market flow is expected to migrate to Rothera over time as the exchange builds scale and additional product coverage beyond sports.
For users, the shift comes with lower fees. Robinhood introduced a new pricing model on June 1 where commissions vary based on contract price and order size, with fees never exceeding one cent per contract. Robinhood Gold subscribers get up to 50 percent lower fees, representing savings of up to 95 percent compared to the platform's previous pricing structure. Contracts routed through Rothera carry lower all-in costs because Robinhood avoids adding its commission on top of a third-party exchange fee.
World Cup Prediction Market Context
The 2026 World Cup is shaping up as the largest prediction market event in US history. Analysts project more than $2.5 billion in US prediction market volume on the tournament, including an estimated $1.47 billion on Kalshi alone, across markets ranging from tournament winners to individual match spreads and player milestones.
Current World Cup winner markets have Spain at 18 cents and France at 17 cents as the top favorites, with England, Argentina, Portugal, and Brazil forming a closely packed group of challengers. More than 50 World Cup-related event pages are available on Robinhood's web platform, with dedicated categories for games, tournament outcomes, group qualifiers, player goals, and team goals. You can track the latest odds across the biggest betting events through our futures betting and odds pages.
