Prediction markets entrant Novig posts more than $125 million in trading volume during its first week
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- Novig reported over $125 million in notional trading volume in its opening week (launched Aug. 4), exceeding the first-week sports contract volume of Kalshi, Polymarket U.S., Underdog, and DraftKings' DKeX, according to data calculated by Novig.
- Parlays covered roughly one-third of Novig's overall trading volume, with baseball markets dominating among available sports categories, per people familiar with the platform's operations.
- Novig's highest single trading day hit $26.3 million in volume, according to co-founder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky, who called it the platform's peak since launching nationwide.
- Novig has sued New York, Massachusetts, Washington, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, arguing that states cannot apply their gambling laws to its sports event contracts.
- A judge in the Southern District of New York denied Novig's application for a temporary restraining order against the Empire State last week, with gaming attorney Daniel Wallach subsequently writing on X that Novig's chances of winning in court against Massachusetts, New York, and Washington 'are dim.'
- The CFTC approved Novig's designated contract markets application in June, allowing the company to fully pivot from a Colorado state sports-betting license and sweepstakes-based product into the prediction markets category.
- Novig restricts its platform to users 21 and older, with Fortinsky telling CNBC the policy was shaped by concerns about the 18-to-20 demographic 'uniquely susceptible to misbehavior' and urging the rest of the industry to follow suit.
Why it matters: Novig's first-week volume beat four established competitors' launches, signaling real demand for a sports-only prediction market — but the company's pending multi-state lawsuits and a recent court setback in New York show that scaling will hinge on whether courts side with platforms or states on whether event contracts constitute gambling.
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