Background Image
Robinhood
Updated

First Prediction: $10 on Us!

Not available at your location

Robinhood

  • Monitor emerging trends in the climate-focused futures market
  • Invest in companies with meaningful environmental impact potential
  • Capitalize on insights drawn from global climate data
See Alternatives

Guide To Robinhood Event Contracts & Trading Explained For 2026

Written By John Carlo Villaruel , Sports Expert for TheLines.com | Fact Checked by: Caleb Tallman

Prediction markets have gained lots of interest in the US recently. Robinhood is one of several services offering prediction markets, where you can trade Robinhood event contracts for varying amounts to see whether you pick the right outcome.

Learn more about event contracts here as we explain how they work and what they look like. You’ll typically find yes or no options for each prediction market, whereby you can buy event contracts for whichever outcome you believe will happen. We’ve also got examples of some more popular prediction markets and topic areas you’ll find event contracts for.

What is an event contract on Robinhood?

To understand more about event contracts, we must first look at where you’ll find them - and this involves prediction markets. Robinhood provides plenty of varied prediction markets, each on a different subject area. We’ve given you some of the more common markets in the following table.

Prediction MarketExamples
SportsBaseball, cricket, golf, soccer, tennis
ClimateTemperature, rainfall
CommoditiesBrent crude, natural gas, wheat
EconomicGas prices, indicators, energy
ElectionsMid-terms, international, state-based options
EntertainmentTV, movies, video games

You’ll find plenty of options in each prediction market area aside from the ones we’ve mentioned here. And in each case, you’ll find lots of event contracts too. We decided to check out the movies category to find some current event contracts in there. This will help you understand how they work.

Yes or no prediction markets

One current market at Robinhood asks the question, Will there be a new Star Wars movie before January 1st 2027? This means you can go with yes or no depending on what you think will happen. There cannot be any other outcome.

Currently, 98% of people are saying yes, there will be, with just 2% saying no. When you have decided which option you think will happen, you will purchase the relevant event contract. In this case, each event contract for the yes option will cost 98 cents. Each event contract for the no option will cost 2 cents.  You’ll get $1 per event contract if you pick the correct outcome. Be aware of any Robinhood fees that may apply at any stage, to make sure you get the full picture.

Multiple choice prediction markets

In this case, you won’t see a yes or no outcome, as there may be several possible outcomes. The best example of this would be the winner of a sporting event with multiple entrants, whether that is the snooker World Championship, a Grand Slam in tennis, or the winner of a football league. While the options may reduce during the event, you’ll usually have multiple possibilities before the event starts.

You still get event contracts though - you’ll just get many other options in this scenario. One recent topic in the entertainment category at Robinhood asked what the top movie would be on US Netflix for that week. There were a few options, with Apex, Roommates, and 180 ranking as the top three possibilities.

While this offers multiple choices, each individual movie provides you with yes and no options. And as before, you can trade event contracts in a movie of your choice, backing either yes or no depending on what you believe might happen. If you think Apex will get the highest viewing figures in the US, you’d pick yes event contracts rather than no.

Common questions about using the Robinhood website

If you're keen to join Robinhood, look for a potential Robinhood promo code before you join, just in case there is a current welcome offer you can claim. We’d also recommend that you read the following Q&A section to give you a clearer view of what to expect.

Where are you allowed to use Robinhood?

If you’re thinking there could be some restrictions on accessing it within the United States, don’t worry. Robinhood provides a fully regulated service overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC if you prefer, under the name Robinhood Derivatives LLC.

This means it’s overseen on a federal level rather than by individual states. It also means that Robinhood provides prediction markets in futures and therefore doesn’t need to follow individual state laws laid out for gambling. Put simply, you can visit and use the site in most states as things stand, except for Maryland. Furthermore, Nevada residents can’t participate in sports event contracts, but it appears that all other topics are permitted.

Does Robinhood offer any bonuses for new or current players?

You can read our Robinhood signup bonus article if you’ve yet to join the site, containing the latest information on that topic. You can also check the banners on this page to get the latest details of any promotions you might be able to claim.

How much are Robinhood event contracts worth?

An event contract represents a position, usually yes or no, as we’ve seen. If you purchase event contracts for the correct outcome, you will receive $1 per event contract. This applies across all prediction markets, no matter which topic they cover. If your event contract turns out to be incorrect, you won’t receive anything, and you’ll lose the event contracts you held on that position. Essentially, they’ll expire.

You will also find a range of prices for event contracts. If those taking part believe there is a low chance of something happening, the no option could be priced at two cents per event contract. This means you’d pay two cents for every event contract you buy. If you backed the yes option for the same question, you’d pay 98 cents per event contract.

You can see that if you backed no and were correct in this example, you’d receive $1 per contract from Robinhood on a two-cent purchase. Of course, it’s not easy to pick the right answer, even in simple yes/no situations. And as you would expect, you would receive a much smaller profit on a 98-cent event contract than you would on a 2-cent event contract, assuming you were correct on that topic.

How do you tell when a prediction market resolves?

You’ll see the word ‘resolves’ quite often at Robinhood. This refers to when the specific event contract ends. For example, if you’ve got two teams in contention for the Super Bowl, the market will resolve when the result of the match is known.

In every case, you can find out the specifics for a prediction market before you buy any event contracts for that market. Once the event concludes or resolves, you will usually receive your payout within an hour of resolution. This assumes you backed the correct outcome, of course.

Sometimes, the prediction market may not be connected with an event or occasion but with something else. For example, you might buy event contracts stating that a particular weather event will happen before the end of this year. Some weather-related prediction markets are monthly, too, to give you another example.

Pros and cons of Robinhood event contracts

Before you think about claiming a Robinhood transfer bonus, you should find out more about the service to make sure you understand how these event contracts work. Having spent some time looking around Robinhood, we’ve given you some good and bad points to think about here.

Pros and Cons
Pros and Cons
  • Available in most of the US
  • Straightforward yes/no outcomes
  • Includes sports prediction markets
  • Limited prediction markets

Make sure you know what Robinhood is all about

Robinhood prediction markets give you an alternative way to get involved with your favorite sports, movies, and even what’s happening in politics in your state or countrywide. Each prediction market involves event contracts that represent whether an event is likely to occur or not. If you correctly predict what might happen, you’ll receive $1 per event contract depending on how many you’ve got.

You can visit Robinhood by using our links on this page to reach their website. You can browse the prediction markets there and look for event contracts reflecting what you think might occur with movies, TV events, the economy, and much more besides. You can learn plenty more about Robinhood here before you head over there, too.

Robinhood event contracts FAQs

🕒 Can you purchase event contracts 24/7 at Robinhood?
Each individual prediction market will display the trading hours for participation. Typically, you can take part 24 hours a day, although there may be limited hours on certain days of the week.
⏱️ How long does Robinhood take to credit payouts for correct event contracts?
If you purchase event contracts for what turns out to be a correct resolution to an event, you should receive the applicable funds within an hour of confirmation that the event has ended or resolved.
💸 Does Robinhood charge fees for its prediction markets service?
Robinhood has exchange fees and commission fees, both of which are $0.01 at the time of writing. This applies per trade, so you can see what the fees are before going ahead with any event contract trades you might be interested in making.