Key Takeaways:
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Sports betting platform Novig plans to launch in all 50 states this summer by seeking regulation as a federal financial product, directly challenging the state-by-state gambling framework that governs the industry.
"Sports betting is really the only industry in the country that regularly limits and bans their power users," Jacob Fortinsky, co-founder and CEO of Novig, said at the Consensus Miami 2026 conference. He argued that sports event contracts are binary financial instruments that "should really be treated as a financial product."
The company will transition from its current sweepstakes model, which is live in 35 states, to a Designated Contract Market (DCM) framework regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The move comes as 15 lawsuits are pending between the CFTC, prediction market Kalshi, and trading platform Robinhood over the definition of event contracts.
Fortinsky predicted the federal-state conflict over jurisdiction is "going to get to the Supreme Court in the next two or three years," a battle that could fundamentally restructure the $2 trillion global sports betting asset class and move it away from legacy casino operators.
The push for a new market structure was validated by Adam Mastrelli, founder of the AI-driven trading firm 57 Maiden. "My partner and I got kicked off of two big sportsbooks within two months of trading because we were sharp," he said, comparing the bans to "LeBron James getting kicked out of the NBA for being too good." Mastrelli said his firm turned to platforms like Novig that operate more like equities exchanges.
Fortinsky recounted a failed attempt to get licensed in Colorado as a wake-up call. "Regulators told us essentially you're naive if you think we care about consumer protection or innovation or market efficiency. We really just care about our tax revenue," he said.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
