Robinhood Markets is preparing to route some World Cup prediction market contracts through Rothera, marking a shift away from its longtime partner Kalshi as the retail broker tests its own event trading infrastructure.
Rothera, a US based derivatives exchange majority owned by Robinhood and Susquehanna International Group, is expected to handle contracts tied to individual World Cup matches, the tournament winner, and total goals during games, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
The 2026 World Cup begins June 11 and will feature 104 matches across the US, Canada, and Mexico, making it a major test case for prediction markets as platforms compete for volume around one of the world’s largest sporting events.
Robinhood has already processed more than 16 billion event contracts this year, surpassing the 12 billion contracts traded across 2025. The product has become one of the company’s fastest growing segments, with CEO Vlad Tenev previously framing major global events such as the World Cup and Olympics as drivers of a broader prediction market cycle.
The shift could weigh on Kalshi at a critical moment. Robinhood users accounted for nearly a quarter of Kalshi’s overall trading volume in March, according to Bernstein analysis cited by Bloomberg. Kalshi has already seen more than $76 million in volume on a market tied to the World Cup winner.
Robinhood will not fully cut Kalshi out of the tournament. Some contracts, including player markets and bundled contract combinations, will still be routed to Kalshi, while Robinhood will decide where to send contracts based on liquidity and how clearly each market can be resolved.
Rothera contracts are expected to carry lower fees for Robinhood users than those routed through Kalshi or other platforms. Susquehanna provides liquidity to Rothera, while both Susquehanna and Robinhood hold seats on the exchange’s advisory board.
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