Novig’s transition from a peer-to-peer trading sportsbook to a full-on sports-focused prediction market is complete.
Key Takeaways
- Novig went live with its new platform on Tuesday.
- The company received federal regulatory approval last month.
- Novig says it aims to offer the most efficient sports markets in the industry.
The company, which has already processed more than $6 billion in trading volume, announced Tuesday that its federally regulated platform is live nationwide, just days after becoming the New York Mets' official prediction market partner.
Novig received designated contract market approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in June, allowing the platform to scale prediction markets, like Kalshi and Polymarket, but fully designed for sports contracts.
Novig “expects to accelerate adoption among sports fans while continuing to build the most liquid and efficient sports prediction market,” the company said in a release.
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Sportsbook-like markets
Novig offers game and futures markets for the NFL, MLB, UFC, pro tennis, and other sports through a platform designed to resemble many major U.S. sportsbooks. There are no markets involving politics, culture, or finance.
“For too long, sports fans have had limited ways to engage with the markets they know best,” Novig CEO and cofounder Jacob Fortinsky said. “They are among the most passionate and informed communities in the world, yet they've never had a platform truly built around how they think, engage, and trade. We built Novig to change that, not only by creating the best place to trade sports, but by setting the standard for what a modern sports prediction market should be.”
Novig promises to give users instant live trading, deeper liquidity, and expanded payment options compared to its previous model. The company says these features allow for “a faster, more seamless, and more efficient way to participate in sports markets.”
Responsible trading initiative
Fortinsky said Novig will require users to be at least 21 years old, matching the minimum age requirement at most U.S. sportsbooks. The age requirement at Kalshi and Polymarket is 18-plus.
Novig is implementing “enhanced safeguards” for consumers through compliance investments like market surveillance and manipulation and insider trading protections, an area that has landed other prediction market sites in the crosshairs of critics and state regulators.
“This launch is a major step toward bringing that vision to more users than ever before,” Fortinsky said.
Building quickly
Founded in 2021, Novig began as a sweepstakes sportsbook and built an in-house trading team to allow for more peer-to-peer exchange before its shift to prediction markets.
Novig applied for CFTC approval in January and received a $75-million funding round in February, putting the company at over $100 million in investments since September 2025.
Novig is trying to fill a gap by creating a market without “unfair odds and punitive limits on winning players.” The operator says it is focused on challenging outdated systems for the next generation of sports fans looking to trade.
“Others are using prediction market technology to financialize new markets with unproven demand,” Fortinsky said earlier this year. “We leverage it to fix broken markets where demand already exists.”
