Novig Review

Here’s a sneak peek into our review of Novig, a federally regulated sports prediction market that’s particularly popular among the sports crowd:

Find PredictionPro’s full Novig review below so you can see why it earned our 4.1/5 rating.

The short version: federal oversight and a genuine no-vig model earn Novig real credit. Thin liquidity in smaller markets holds it back.

PredictionPro’s Rating of Novig

Federal designation drives most of this score.

The CFTC now regulates Novig as a derivatives exchange, not a state gaming operator. That shift brings real safeguards: market surveillance, anti-manipulation and insider-activity protections, and financial-market compliance standards.

Novig also earns credit for how it prices markets. Traditional sportsbooks bake a house edge into every line. Novig strips that out and lets you trade directly with other traders instead, at prices that move on supply and demand.

So what holds the score back? Liquidity. In smaller markets, you may wait a while for someone to take your other side.

Keep an eye on the courts, too. Many states have challenged sports event contracts, and those cases are still open.

See how we calculated this score using the PredictionPro 5-Star Audit System.

Novig’s Pros and Cons

Here are Novig’s pros and cons at a glance:

Novig Welcome Bonus Details

Novig hasn’t announced a welcome offer or promo code yet. We’ll update this section the moment terms drop.

If you need help claiming the welcome bonus, check out our complete guide to the Novig promo code.

How to Sign Up for Novig

Here’s how to get started at Novig:

1. Download the app. Once available, tap our links to download the official Novig app from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android). Novig is a mobile-first platform.
2. Tap “Sign Up.” Enter your name, email, date of birth, home address, and the last four digits of your SSN.
3. Enter the promo code. When you reach the promo code field during registration, enter our exclusive code to unlock the welcome offer.
4. Verify your identity. Upload a driver’s license or passport when Novig asks. CFTC rules require this before you can fund your account.
5. Add funds. Link a card or bank account, deposit, and you’re ready to trade.

Is Novig Legal?

Yes. Novig operates as a federally regulated prediction market.

Novig filed its Designated Contract Market application through Ludlow Exchange, LLC in January 2026. Five months later, on June 16, the CFTC approved it, one of the fastest turnarounds in the agency’s history.

Here’s what that means for you. Federal derivatives regulation now governs Novig, not state gaming law or sweepstakes rules. Novig lists binary sports event contracts, you trade them against other people, and the whole thing sits in the same regulatory lane as Kalshi.

Federal oversight also brings protections you’d recognize from financial markets. Novig runs market surveillance, guards against manipulation and insider activity, and follows compliance standards designed to protect the people trading on it.

One caveat worth knowing: several states have challenged sports event contracts offered under CFTC authority. Those cases haven’t resolved yet, and how they land could affect access in a handful of jurisdictions.

Where Can I Use Novig?

Novig’s CFTC designation clears it to offer sports event contracts nationwide, across all 50 states.

That’s the whole advantage of the DCM model. One federal framework replaces the state-by-state licensing grind that sportsbooks still deal with.

To trade, you need to be 21+ and located in the U.S. Novig runs geolocation checks before it lets you place an order.

This is a big jump from where Novig started. The platform ran under state licenses in a couple of markets, then a dual-currency model across roughly 40 jurisdictions. Federal designation replaced both.

State challenges to sports event contracts are still moving through the courts, so access in a few jurisdictions could shift. Check the app before you plan around it.

How Does Novig Work?

Novig lists binary sports event contracts and matches you against another trader who wants the opposite side.

Each contract tracks a specific outcome — a team winning, a total going over, a player hitting a number. The contract settles at a fixed value depending on what happens. Between now and then, the price moves on what other traders will pay.

This is what “no vig” actually means. Sportsbooks price both sides so the house wins either way. Novig matches buyers and sellers directly and skips that margin entirely. Hence the name.

You don’t need a trading background to use it. Browse the markets, pick your side and your price, and Novig finds you a counterparty.

How to Trade at Novig

Four steps:

1. Pick a sport and market. Browse events, choose one, then pick your contract type — spread, moneyline, total, or prop.
2. Take or Make. Take an existing price another trader posted, or flip to Make and set your own.
3. Get matched. Someone accepts your offer, or you accept theirs, and your position fills.
4. Wait for settlement. The event ends, the contract settles, and your proceeds land in your account.

What Can I Trade on Novig?

Sports, and only sports.

Sports

Novig is an alternative to a sportsbook for sports fans who want better odds or don’t have access to betting sites.

Novig lets you make predictions on the following sports and markets:

🏈 Sports	📲 Market Types
NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB	Moneylines
NCAAF, NCAAB, NCAAW	Point Spreads
WNBA	Totals (Over/Under)
Tennis	Player Props
Golf	Parlays
UFC
Soccer

Props & Alternative Lines

Novig offers unique props that are rarely seen on prediction market platforms, such as first basket scorer, passing completions, and anytime TD scorers. You can also flip any market from “Take” to “Make” and set your own custom odds, which are then posted for other users to accept.

Esports & Entertainment

Novig has expanded its market menu to include select esports and entertainment markets. Availability of these markets can vary by season and demand.

Novig App Review

Novig calls itself the first prediction market built specifically for sports, and it ships on both the App Store and Google Play.

The iOS experience has received the strongest praise from users. User reviews on social media and the App Store consistently praise the iOS Novig app for responsiveness and speed, while the Android app receives more mixed feedback with some bug reports and performance issues on certain devices.

We found the design clean and sports-forward. Markets, open positions, and order entry all sit a tap or two from the home screen.

The home screen can feel crowded, with promos, filters, and markets all competing for attention in the same space, and the line-adjusting tool for spreads and totals can be awkward to use.

That said, core functions like browsing markets, placing trades, and reviewing your portfolio run smoothly.

Novig holds a 4.7-star rating on iOS and 3.4 stars on Android, so don’t read too much into the gap; prediction market apps tend to run better on Apple across the board.

Novig on Desktop

Novig builds mobile-first, but you can trade on desktop too. The company added a web platform in late 2025 after running app-only for years.

Its web interface is decidedly secondary to the mobile experience. On desktop, Novig provides access to markets and account management without the polished feel of the iOS app. Most of the platform’s features — including the custom odds-setting tool and the portfolio view — are available on desktop, but the layout is less optimized for the trading workflow.

Checking prices or reviewing positions from a laptop? Desktop handles that fine. Trading actively or signing up with the welcome offer? Stick with the app.

Trading Performance: Speed, Liquidity, and Slippage

Everything here traces back to the peer-to-peer model. You need another trader to take your side, and that shapes how the platform behaves.

Speed

In testing by OddsShark, browsing markets, placing or matching predictions, reviewing current offers, and currency switching all went off without a hitch.

Under normal conditions the app moves fast, especially on iOS. High-traffic moments — major playoff games, Super Bowl, March Madness — can create delays in match fills since you depend on another user to be on the opposite side, rather than an automated market maker absorbing your position instantly.

Liquidity

Novig has cleared more than $5 billion in cumulative trading volume, which points to real market depth.

Major sports should fill reliably. Push size on an NFL, NBA, or MLB primetime game and you’ll likely find a counterparty. Chase a niche prop or a quiet league and your order may sit.

Execution

Slippage barely factors in here. You name a price, and someone takes it or doesn’t. No algorithm moves the market against you mid-order.

Your real risk is a non-fill. Post aggressively in a thin market and nobody bites. Novig lists a lot of props and alternate lines, and plenty of them carry little liquidity. Stick to major game markets and this mostly disappears.

Review of Banking at Novig

Novig handles money like an exchange. You deposit real funds, trade contracts, and withdraw what you make.

Deposit and Withdrawal Methods

Novig splits payment methods into two pricing tiers. Cards and Apple Pay fall under standard pricing. Bank transfers, Stripe, and stablecoins earn discount pricing and cost you less.

The app displays both prices side by side at checkout, so compare before you confirm. If you deposit often, the bank transfer route saves you real money over time.

Why a Withdrawal Might Stall

Usually one of two things.

• Identity verification. CFTC-mandated KYC and AML rules require Novig to verify you before it releases funds. An unfinished, rejected, or expired document holds your withdrawal until you sort it out.

• Open positions. When you place a trade, those funds move into escrow and stay there until the position matches, closes, or the event settles. Check your Portfolio to see what’s still tied up.

Fees

Novig charges no vig. The margin sportsbooks bury inside every line simply isn’t there. Instead, Novig charges a small, transparent fee on certain trades — and most trades cost you nothing at all.

You pay nothing when:

• Someone fills your resting order, which makes you the maker
• You take a pre-game straight trade on the app or website

You pay a fee when:

• You take a straight trade on a live, in-game market
• You take a parlay, where the fee already sits inside your quoted price

Here’s the official schedule:

P is the contract price in dollars, so a contract at 50¢ has a P of 0.50 and pays $1.00 if it wins. Because price doubles as implied probability, fees peak at even money and shrink toward the extremes — a live trade costs the same at −300 as it does at +300.

Only takers pay. Novig holds the maker fee at $0 across every trade type, which rewards you for putting liquidity on the book.

Novig Customer Service Review

Novig’s support is primarily app- and community-driven, with response quality generally praised for account-specific issues.

Novig vs. Competitors

Novig now shares a regulatory lane with Kalshi and Polymarket. What sets it apart is focus — Kalshi trades everything, Novig trades sports.

Here’s how Novig stacks up against competitors:

Novig Timeline

Check out Novig’s highlights throughout the years:

• July 2026: The New York Mets named Novig their Exclusive Official Prediction Market Partner — the first deal of its kind between a prediction market and an MLB franchise. It followed Novig’s designation as an MLB Authorized Prediction Market.
• June 16, 2026: The CFTC designated Ludlow Exchange, LLC as a Designated Contract Market, clearing Novig to offer sports event contracts nationwide.
• April 2026: Novig partnered with LIV Golf and became the first prediction platform to run a live activation at a professional golf event.
• February 2026: Novig raised a $75 million Series B led by Pantera Capital, disclosing over $4 billion in annualized trading volume and 100,000+ traders on the platform.
• January 21, 2026: Novig, operating as Ludlow Exchange LLC, submitted a pending Designated Contract Market (DCM) application to the CFTC.
• 2024: Novig initially sought state sports betting licenses and launched as a betting exchange in New Jersey and Colorado before pivoting to a sweepstakes-based dual-currency system later that year.
• 2021: Novig founded by Harvard graduates Jacob Fortinsky and Kelechi Ukah with the vision of building a commission-free sports trading platform.
• September 2025: Novig raised $18 million in a Series A round to expand its product and user base.

Novig Partnerships

Novig has cultivated several partnerships to support its growth and market presence:

• New York Mets: The Mets named Novig their Exclusive Official Prediction Market Partner in July 2026 — the first prediction market deal with an MLB franchise. The multi-year agreement covers in-ballpark, broadcast, digital, and social activations. It follows Novig’s designation as an MLB Authorized Prediction Market, which requires Novig to join MLB’s integrity program, monitor its markets, follow reporting protocols, and restrict higher-risk contract types.
• LIV Golf: Novig partnered with LIV Golf in April 2026 and became the first prediction platform to run a live activation at a pro golf event.
• Pantera Capital: Pantera Capital led Novig’s $75 million Series B funding round in February 2026, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Makers Fund, and Edge Equity.
• Forerunner Ventures, Perceptive Ventures, and NFX: Existing investors who participated in the Series B round alongside new strategic capital.
• Makers Fund: A gaming-focused venture fund that has backed Novig across multiple funding rounds, signaling confidence in Novig’s sports exchange model.

Responsible Trading at Novig

Novig follows responsible trading practices in line with CFTC exchange standards:

• 21+ requirement: Novig requires every user to be at least 21. That’s a higher bar than several competitors, and Novig kept it voluntarily after federal designation.
• Federal safeguards: As a CFTC-designated exchange, Novig runs market surveillance and guards against manipulation and insider activity.
• Geolocation checks: Novig confirms your location before it lets you trade.
• Trading limits: You can set limits on your own activity, and you can close your account permanently whenever you want.
• Identity verification: CFTC rules require Novig to verify your identity before you fund an account.
• Problem trading resources: Novig surfaces the national helpline, 1-800-GAMBLER, across its app and marketing.

Novig Review FAQs

See below for more answers to questions you may have about Novig: