Novig has launched its federally regulated sports prediction market platform through Ludlow Exchange, completing its transition from a sweepstakes-based model after months of preparation for a nationwide rollout.
The updated Novig app went live Aug. 4 with a “Now Available Nationwide!” message telling users, “We’re now a federally regulated exchange.” Existing customers were required to accept new Ludlow Exchange agreements before continuing to trade, with the alternative of closing their account and withdrawing.
Novig is sticking with the sports focus that has defined the company since its inception. The relaunched app was offering contracts across professional baseball, football and women’s basketball, ATP and WTA tennis, UFC and the PGA Tour on Tuesday morning, closely matching the breadth of products Ludlow self-certified ahead of launch.
Novig later confirmed the re-launched platform early Tuesday afternoon with a press release. The release emphasized the consumer guardrails the company has in place for the new exchange, including “protections against manipulation and insider activity” and a 21-and-up age requirement. Most prediction market platforms allow users 18 and up to trade.
“For too long, sports fans have had limited ways to engage with the markets they know best. 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,” Novig co-founder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky said. “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. That has meant building with trust, transparency, and responsible participation at the center.”
Novig builds out sports contract lineup
One notable gap between Ludlow’s pre-launch filings and the app Tuesday morning was MLS, for which the exchange has also self-certified contracts. Contract rules in the app link users directly to Ludlow’s CFTC self-certification documents, including the terms governing individual product classes.
Beyond standard game-level markets, Novig is also offering player props and futures. Ludlow’s filings cover individual performances, season statistics, playoff results and awards, allowing markets to remain open well beyond a single game or event.
Novig also launched with multi-leg trading. Ludlow’s rulebook allows for “Combination Contracts,” standalone contracts whose outcome depends on two or more underlying legs. In the app, users can build and trade multi-leg combinations, giving Novig a parlay-style product from day one.
In the app’s help section, Novig says trading is available nationwide except in Arizona, Michigan and Nevada, with eligibility determined by a user’s physical location rather than state of residence.
Ludlow files welcome offer, liquidity programs
Ahead of launch, Ludlow also filed six incentive programs with the CFTC covering new-user deposits, referrals and liquidity. The filings show Novig preparing both consumer promotions and programs designed to deepen its order books. At launch, Novig activated at least one of them.
The app offered a $25 “welcome back” trading credit for a $10 deposit. The credits are issued as five $5 trade credits; a completed $10 deposit Monday showed $35 available to trade, including the $25 promotion.
Ludlow has also created separate incentives for liquidity. Its Maker Credit Program would return a portion of the taker fee to eligible users whose resting orders provide liquidity, while a broader Liquidity Provider Program can allocate reward pools of up to $50,000 per eligible market based on the competitiveness and persistence of resting orders.
Novig is using Bitnomial Clearinghouse to clear contracts on Ludlow. The new onboarding process requires users to accept a Bitnomial Clearinghouse acknowledgment alongside the Ludlow Exchange rulebook, member agreement and privacy policy. Bitnomial registered with the CFTC as a derivatives clearing organization in 2023, allowing it to clear fully collateralized swaps.
From sweepstakes to federally regulated exchange
Novig first launched as a state-regulated sportsbook in Colorado in January 2024 before pivoting to a sweepstakes-based sports trading platform that September. The sweepstakes rollout expanded Novig into 42 states and Washington, D.C., with traders using Novig Cash, a virtual currency redeemable for cash prizes, and nonredeemable Novig Coins.
By February 2026, Novig was preparing another regulatory shift. The company raised $75 million in a Series B funding round and disclosed plans to transition to a federally regulated prediction market platform. Fortinsky told Sports Business Journal that Novig planned to phase out the sweepstakes offering as it moved to a CFTC-regulated model.
That transition moved forward on June 16, when the CFTC designated Novig’s Ludlow Exchange as a DCM. Novig said the approval would allow it to expand across all 50 states under a single federal regulatory framework, with a nationwide rollout planned for the summer.
Novig kept its sweepstakes platform operating after Ludlow received approval while it prepared the new exchange for launch. The Aug. 4 transition effectively retired that model for existing users. Novig told customers that it retired Novig Cash and Novig Coins and the platform moved entirely to U.S. dollars. Existing cash balances remained available, while open trades from the previous platform were settled and returned to users’ balances.
Ludlow’s path from application to launch took just over six months. The exchange filed its DCM application with the CFTC on Jan. 21 and received approval June 16, 146 days later. Novig then spent another 49 days preparing Ludlow for Tuesday’s launch, bringing the full process from application to launch to 195 days.
Novig said Tuesday in its launch announcement that that platform had surpassed $6 billion in cumulative trading volume under its previous model.
Novig enters a contested sports prediction market landscape
Novig lined up a high-profile sports partnership ahead of launch. On July 30, the New York Mets named Novig their exclusive official prediction market partner in a multi-year deal. The deal includes branding at Citi Field, on broadcasts and across the team’s digital channels. Novig said it was the first prediction market partnership with an individual MLB franchise.
The New York tie-up comes at an unusual moment. One day after the Mets announcement, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Kalshi over sports, election and cultural event contracts. The state seeks to halt the offerings and listing at least $36 billion in claimed damages. The action followed a July federal court ruling that rejected Kalshi’s bid to prevent New York from applying its gambling laws to the exchange’s sports contracts.
Novig has also emphasized consumer protections as it prepared the regulated platform. On Aug. 3, the company announced it had hired former Underdog and FanDuel responsible gaming executive Adam Warrington as senior vice president of external affairs. Warrington is now in charge of Novig’s “responsible trading” strategy and communications.
“Novig is taking a fundamentally different and consumer-first approach to building this category,” Warrington said in a news release. “The opportunity to help shape a company where responsibility is embedded into the business, and not layered on afterward, is incredibly compelling. I’m excited to join a team that is focused on earning trust, raising standards and building the future of sports prediction markets.”
Tuesday’s launch puts Novig squarely into an increasingly competitive and legally unsettled prediction market sector, with a clear focus on sports.
This story has been updated to add details and comments from CEO Jacob Fortinsky from the Novig launch press release.
