Novig traders woke up Wednesday to a different product than the one they used last week. The company's federally regulated sports exchange went live Tuesday, closing out a shift away from the sweepstakes model Novig had operated under since 2021 and dropping it into direct competition with the largest prediction markets in the country.
Contracts are trading in 47 states for verified users 21 and older. Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada are geofenced, per Deadspin, which means Novig's own "nationwide" label needs a footnote.
What Changed for Existing Novig Users
Nothing about the switch is automatic. Anyone holding a Novig account from the sweepstakes era has to approve and install an app update before any of the new markets appear.
Geolocation is now part of the login flow as well, so the app confirms your physical position each session rather than trusting your registered address. Traders in the three blocked states won't get past that check.
Where Novig Is and Is Not Available
- Live jurisdictions: 47 states
- Blocked: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada
- Unconfirmed: social media reports suggested parts of Washington may also be restricted, though Novig had not confirmed that as of Wednesday morning
- Age floor: 21 and up, with no exceptions by state
- Access: mobile app only, with identity verification and an active geolocation check
The three excluded states aren't random. Regulators in all three have taken an aggressive posture toward sports event contracts this year, and Nevada's Gaming Control Board already extracted a geofencing agreement from Kalshi.
Inside the Novig Trading Experience
The best prediction market apps compete on two things: how deep the order book runs and how fast you can find a market worth taking. Novig is betting a sports-only version of both beats a broader catalog.
Novig built its exchange to look like something a sportsbook customer already understands, then stripped out every market category that is not sports.
- Leagues covered:NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and other major properties, with both game markets and season-long futures
- What is missing on purpose: no political, cultural, or financial contracts anywhere on the platform
- Live trading: in-play positions available instantly, not just pregame
- Liquidity: the company points to improved depth and market quality as the headline upgrade from its previous build
- Funding: a wider set of deposit and payout methods than the sweepstakes version supported
Cofounder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky has pitched the platform as one designed around how fans actually "think, engage, and trade," a jab at products that treat sports as one vertical among many. Novig also markets itself against two specific sportsbook habits: baked-in odds margins and the throttling of winning accounts.
How to Redeem Novig Promo Code: ACTION
Novig's welcome offer lands in the same range as the best prediction market promos running right now, and first-time users can activate it during registration.
- Step 1: Install the Novig app from the App Store or Google Play, or enter the Novig promo code ACTION.
- Step 2: Register with your legal name, date of birth, email, mailing address, and Social Security number.
- Step 3: Clear identity verification and let the app confirm your location in an eligible state.
- Step 4: Apply promo code ACTION before you finish creating the account in order to Spend $25, Get $50 in Novig Coins!
- Step 5: Fund your first purchase of Novig currency to release the bonus.
- Step 6: Deploy the balance on live game markets or futures.
Read the fine print in-app before you commit. Novig restricts the promo to new customers; the platform is mobile-only, and enforces the 21+ requirement at verification.
Bonus currency also carries playthrough conditions, so treat the credit as trading capital rather than a withdrawable balance. Novig's market list can be sorted by trading volume, which is the quickest route to the contracts with real liquidity behind them on any given day.
Why Novig Set Its Minimum Age at 21
Kalshi and Polymarket both admit traders at 18. Novig chose 21, matching the standard at nearly every regulated U.S. sportsbook, and has made that choice a talking point.
The timing explains the strategy. Sports event contracts have drawn fire from state regulators and tribal gaming groups throughout 2026, and Congress held testimony on the category in July. Novig is layering on market surveillance, insider trading, and manipulation safeguards, and it brought in Elie Mishory as chief regulatory and legal affairs officer this summer to run that side of the business.
How Novig Got Its Federal License
Novig applied to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in January and received designated contract market approval in June, letting it list contracts through its DCM entity, Ludlow Exchange, LLC. That is the same regulatory footing Kalshi and Polymarket stand on.
A $75 million round in February pushed the company past $100 million raised since September 2025, according to Covers. Cumulative trading volume now sits above $6 billion, which still trails both Kalshi and Robinhood domestically.
Days before flipping the switch, Novig also became the exclusive prediction market partner of the New York Mets, the first arrangement of its kind between an exchange operator and an MLB franchise.
The Future of Novig: What to Watch Next
Football is the real test. A sports-only exchange has more riding on the 2026-27 NFL season and the MLB postseason than a diversified competitor does, and the next two months will show whether Novig's narrower catalog reads as focus or as a ceiling.
The regulatory picture is the other variable. Three states are already closed off, the state-versus-federal fight over event contracts has not resolved, and Novig is betting that the most conservative operator in the category ends up with the most durable position.
