How Novig works: the peer-to-peer sports exchange

Key takeaways

• Novig became a CFTC-designated contract market on June 16, 2026 and launched nationwide on August 4.
• Take orders fill now; make orders wait at your price and are free.
• Pregame straight trades carry no fee. Live and futures takers pay 0.06 × P × (1 − P).
• Available everywhere except Arizona, Nevada and Michigan, 21+.

Novig is a sports-only exchange. Instead of betting against a sportsbook, you trade contracts with other users, and Novig earns its money from fees on some trades rather than from a margin built into the prices.

What is Novig?

Novig is operated by Ludlow Exchange, LLC, which the Commodity Futures Trading Commission designated a contract market on June 16, 2026. Its regulated exchange launched nationwide on August 4, 2026. Before that, Novig ran a sweepstakes model with Novig Cash and Novig Coins; both are retired, and remaining Cash balances were converted to U.S. dollars.

Novig runs an anonymous central limit order book: your orders match against other users' orders, every contract is fully collateralized, and trades are cleared by Bitnomial, a derivatives clearing organization.

How does a Novig contract work?

• Every contract pays $1 if it wins and $0 if it loses.
• Prices run between $0 and $1 and read as implied probabilities: a team at 58¢ has about a 58% chance in the market's view.
• Because you trade against other users, Novig says "there's no vig or juice built into our prices."

See how to read prediction market odds to convert Novig prices into American odds.

How do you place a trade on Novig?

Novig has two order types:

Make orders must sit on an approved price increment and last until the duration you choose, or until the game goes live for pregame orders. See limit vs. market orders.

What does Novig charge?

• Pregame straight trades: no fee, for either side.
• Live and futures trades: takers pay 0.06 × contracts × P × (1 − P); makers pay nothing.
• Parlays: a 0.10 × P × (1 − P) fee is built into the quoted price.
• Deposits: free by bank transfer or stablecoin; 3% by credit card, debit card or Apple Pay.
• Withdrawals: by bank transfer, debit card or Venmo, $10 minimum, with no playthrough requirement.

A winning contract always pays the full $1; fees are added to your cost. Full details in fees compared.

Can you sell or cash out early?

Yes, for straight trades. Selling places an offsetting order at the live market price, and it isn't available when there isn't enough market activity. Parlays, and positions bought with Trade Credits, can't be sold.

Novig also has Early Payouts: if you hold both sides of the same game, Novig credits the guaranteed minimum to your account right away instead of waiting for the final.

What sports does Novig have?

Novig lists professional and college football, MLB and college baseball, pro and college basketball (men's and women's), the NHL, golf, ATP and WTA tennis, MMA and soccer. For football, single-game markets include winner, spread, total, first-half lines, team totals and player props, plus futures such as playoffs, win totals, division and conference winners, champions and awards. Spreads and totals use half-point lines, so they can't push.

Where the money goes on NovigShare of contracts traded by sport, last 30 days

Sports Index

Source: Novig public trade data (data.novig.com), compiled by Sports Index · Data through October 22, 2026

See the data

Sport	Contracts traded	Share
Parlays (all sports)	$1.3B	48.9%
Football	$819M	30.9%
Baseball	$197M	7.4%
Tennis	$122M	4.6%
Basketball	$95.5M	3.6%
Ice Hockey	$79.2M	3.0%
Soccer	$28.3M	1.1%
Mixed Martial Arts	$13.2M	0.5%

See Novig college football and Novig NFL.

How do Novig parlays work?

Novig auctions each parlay to its liquidity providers for three seconds, and the lowest price wins. Parlays can have 2 to 20 legs, including same-game legs with some restrictions, and can't be sold once filled. See parlays explained.

How does settlement work?

Contracts settle automatically on the official league result, typically within about 30 minutes. Full-game markets include overtime, an official tie pays 50¢ to each side, and a voided game settles at fair value, the time-weighted price over the 30 minutes before the disruption. See how sports markets settle.

Who can use Novig?

• You must be 21 or older.
• Novig is available everywhere except Arizona, Nevada and Michigan, based on your device's location each time you trade.
• Verification needs your legal name, date of birth and address, and sometimes the last four digits of your SSN and a U.S. driver's license or state ID. One account per person.

Does Novig have promotions?

Novig's New Member Deposit Program gives $50 in Trade Credits for a first deposit of $10 or more, once per person, and its referral program gives a referred friend $50 in Trade Credits. Check Novig's own terms before you sign up. Positions bought with Trade Credits can't be sold early.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Novig Support: What is Novig?
2. CFTC: Order designating Ludlow Exchange (Novig) a contract market
3. Novig Support: Fees on Novig
4. Novig Support: Make orders vs. take orders
5. Novig Support: How selling a position works
6. Novig Support: Eligibility and legality
7. Novig Support: Standard and discount pricing (deposits)
8. Novig Support: Withdrawing funds

Facts that change, such as fees, rules and where each exchange operates, were checked on the date above. Check the exchange's own pages before you trade.

Sports Index Markets Every college football price in one place Novig and Kalshi side by side, with price history, strategies with graded records and the twice-weekly Betting Roundup. Open Markets →

Keep reading

Sports Index publishes research and paper picks; it is not a sportsbook or an exchange and takes no bets. Trading on prediction markets risks real money. You must meet the exchange's age requirement and be in an eligible state. If gambling is a problem for you or someone you know, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.