A French regulator is examining Robinhood’s front-of-shirt sponsorship of OGC Nice, L’Équipe reported yesterday (Tuesday). The National Gambling Authority (ANJ) review concerns Robinhood’s prediction-market business, which France treats as unauthorized gambling.
That distinction matters. French law makes advertising an unauthorized gambling site a criminal offense, but Robinhood’s event contracts are limited to US residents.
The inquiry follows a warning from nine European gambling regulators that urged sports bodies to check the legal status of prediction-market operators before signing commercial agreements.
French Ban Extends to Advertising
The ANJ said in February that prediction-market sites are not authorized in France and are treated as illegal gambling sites. The regulator cited addiction, integrity and consumer-protection risks where platforms operate outside the licensed market.
On July 16, the ANJ ordered French internet providers to block Polymarket. The regulator said Polymarket’s homepage promoted an unauthorized gambling offer and added that advertising such a site by any means is a criminal offense.
Other European authorities have taken similar action. The Dutch regulator, for example, ordered Polymarket to stop serving the Netherlands without a local gambling license in February.
L’Équipe did not say whether the ANJ is treating Robinhood’s corporate logo as promotion of its prediction markets. No formal action was identified. The report also did not mention a notice to the club or a requested change to the sponsorship.
The ANJ had not published an enforcement notice naming Robinhood or OGC Nice by Wednesday. Its public position creates a distinction between reviewing a brand relationship and proving that the shirt deal promotes an unauthorized product.
Shirt Deal Predates Joint Warning
Robinhood and OGC Nice announced the multi-year agreement on July 1, 2025, almost a year before the coordinated warning to sports organizations. The deal made Robinhood the principal partner of the club’s men’s and women’s first teams from the 2025/26 season.
No financial terms were disclosed.
The rights extend beyond domestic and European match shirts. OGC Nice said the package covers training and warm-up kits, stadium signage, club digital channels and branded content produced with players and ambassadors.
The announcement did not refer to prediction markets by name. Robinhood said the agreement would introduce new audiences to its financial products as the company expanded in the European Union.
Robinhood’s French site currently advertises stock tokens, cryptocurrencies and perpetual futures. None of those listings establishes how the ANJ views a sponsorship by the parent brand, and the regulator has not publicly explained the test it is applying.
OGC Nice has sold shirt visibility to an online trading business before. FinanceMagnates.com reported a partnership with binary-options broker Interactive Option in 2015.
Event Contracts Become a Material Revenue Line
Robinhood launched its Prediction Markets Hub in March 2025 with contracts tied to Federal Reserve decisions and college basketball. The product initially relied on Kalshi, a US exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Robinhood later added Rothera, an exchange and clearinghouse operated through a joint venture with Susquehanna International Group. The CFTC lists Rothera as a designated contract market, but that US status does not determine how France classifies or licenses the products.
Robinhood reported $156 million of event-contract revenue for the second quarter of 2026. The product generated more revenue than equities or cryptocurrencies, while customers traded 13.6 billion contracts, according to the company.
The company has continued adding suppliers. FinanceMagnates.com reported yesterday that Robinhood is taking minority stakes in Crypto.com and OG while adding another source of event contracts to its app.
Robinhood’s event-contract help page requires users to hold an approved derivatives account and be US residents. The French product page does not list prediction markets.
