ANJ Reviews Robinhood-OGC Nice Shirt Deal
France's gambling regulator, the Autorite Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), is examining Robinhood's shirt sponsorship of Ligue 1 club OGC Nice, questioning whether the arrangement conflicts with the country's ban on prediction markets.
The scrutiny, first reported by L'Equipe on Tuesday, centres on Robinhood's growing "event contracts" business rather than the sponsorship deal itself, which has run since the 2025/26 season.
What The ANJ Is Investigating
The ANJ told French outlets it is "examining and instructing the subject" of the OGC Nice partnership, after L'Équipe raised concerns that the type of platform Robinhood operates "may not be authorised in France and considered an illegal gambling and betting offering."
Robinhood is a Nasdaq-listed financial services company that runs its own regulated prediction-markets exchange, Rothera, under a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) licence in the US. It launched an in-app predictions hub via white-label partnerships in March 2025, months after signing the OGC Nice deal in July 2025.
Prediction markets have been treated as unauthorised gambling under French law since payment processing for such platforms was banned in November 2024. In July, the ANJ ordered an administrative block on Polymarket just before the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, saying the platform was "promoting an illegal gambling and betting offering" to a large French audience.
OGC Nice's Defence
OGC Nice said the sponsorship "promotes the Robinhood brand and the services it is legally authorised to provide in France," adding that Robinhood's prediction markets are offered only in the US and are not marketed to French bettors.
The club also pointed to Robinhood's MiCA crypto-asset authorisation from the Bank of Lithuania, which carries an EU passport referenced by the AMF, France's financial markets regulator.
Robinhood became OGC Nice's principal partner and front-of-shirt sponsor for its men's and women's first teams from the 2025/26 season, in the fintech's first major push into European football, which markets remain ever popular on sports betting sites. The deal covers domestic and European competitions, training kits, stadium branding and digital content.
Casino Games Hub
Wider Regulatory Picture
The ANJ has taken a harder line on prediction markets than most European regulators; in February it condemned the sector's "addictive characteristics."
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority, by contrast, has said only that it will consider "whether further work on access to these products is needed," a markedly softer stance that leaves Robinhood room to expand its sponsorship model elsewhere in Europe should the ANJ's review of the Nice deal conclude in the club's favour.
Robinhood's European Expansion
When the partnership was announced in 2025, Robinhood Crypto senior vice-president Johann Kerbrat said: "France is fast cementing its position as a global fintech hub – and it plays an important role in our international footprint."
OGC Nice's director of partnerships, merchandising and digital, Cynthia Marcou, called the deal a "bold new chapter on and off the pitch" for the club.
Robinhood has not extended its football sponsorship presence beyond OGC Nice. How the ANJ's review concludes could shape whether it pursues further club partnerships in France or elsewhere in Europe, particularly if regulators elsewhere start applying the same scrutiny to sponsorship deals tied to prediction-market brands.
