Robinhood's OGC Nice Shirt Deal Draws French Scrutiny Over Prediction Markets

France's National Gambling Authority (ANJ) is reviewing Robinhood's front-of-shirt sponsorship of Ligue 1 side OGC Nice, according to a report by L'Équipe on Tuesday. The examination centres on whether the branding effectively promotes Robinhood's prediction-market business, which French authorities classify as unauthorized gambling rather than a regulated financial product.

The distinction carries legal weight. Under French law, advertising an unauthorized gambling site is a criminal offence, yet Robinhood limits its event contracts to US residents and its French-facing product page lists only stock tokens, cryptocurrencies and perpetual futures. The inquiry follows a coordinated warning from nine European gambling regulators that urged sports bodies to verify the legal status of prediction-market operators before entering commercial agreements. As of Wednesday, the ANJ had not published an enforcement notice naming Robinhood or OGC Nice, and the report did not identify any formal action, notice to the club or request to alter the sponsorship.

Regulator's Wider Crackdown

The ANJ stated in February that prediction-market platforms are not authorized in France and are treated as illegal gambling sites, citing addiction, integrity and consumer-protection risks. On July 16 it ordered French internet service providers to block Polymarket, saying the site's homepage advertised an unlicensed gambling offer. The Dutch regulator issued a comparable order against Polymarket in February, requiring it to stop serving the Netherlands without a local licence.

Robinhood and OGC Nice announced their multi-year agreement on July 1, 2025, making the brokerage 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 match shirts to training and warm-up kits, stadium signage, club digital channels and branded content featuring players and ambassadors. The announcement did not reference prediction markets by name; Robinhood said at the time that the deal would introduce new audiences to its financial products amid its European Union expansion. OGC Nice previously sold shirt visibility to binary-options broker Interactive Option in 2015.

Event contracts have become a material revenue line for Robinhood. The Prediction Markets Hub launched in March 2025 with contracts tied to Federal Reserve decisions and college basketball, initially relying on CFTC-regulated exchange Kalshi before adding Rothera, a designated contract market run through a joint venture with Susquehanna International Group. Robinhood reported $156 million of event-contract revenue for the second quarter of 2026, exceeding its equities and cryptocurrency lines, on 13.6 billion contracts traded. US regulatory status does not determine how France classifies or licenses those products.