Wombaroo

What is Wombaroo?

The historic showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers will take place at a venue located 7,971 miles from Levi’s Stadium, home of the last meeting between the NFC West rivals. Both teams are based in California, a fertile ground for prediction markets given a sports betting ban in a state with more than 39 million residents. But the Americans in attendance for Thursday night’s matchup (Friday in Melbourne) will not be able to live-trade from their seats.

That is because trading on prediction markets is illegal down under, according to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, the nation’s regulator on financial services. Last month, in perhaps the ASIC’s strongest warnings yet against the asset class, the commission reiterated that prediction markets are not licensed as financial markets to operate in Australia. Through the guidance, the regulator urged consumers to exercise caution before partaking in certain investments on offshore platforms which have not obtained licensing nationwide.

The advisory could be music to the ears of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, whose league has pushed a federal derivatives regulator in the US to enact more rigorous standards to help protect the integrity of professional sports. Ahead of the matchup, Goodell spoke with CNBC from Melbourne.

About Wombaroo

Polymarket has developed its media presence elsewhere. In January, it signed a deal with Dow Jones to provide its prediction market data to several of the publisher’s consumer platforms. The deal covers publications including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch and Investor’s Business Daily.

Prediction markets have become more and more intertwined with sports and entertainment businesses. Polymarket has agreements with Major League Baseball and Sportsradar. Sportsradar provides data and services for more than 20 sports leagues and competitions. 

The company has also pursued partnerships outside the normal financial media. Its deals include relationships with major sports organizations and entertainment properties, signaling efforts to integrate prediction markets into mainstream content and information services. 

About Wombaroo

Levin added that he is looking forward to supporting the company and the wider team from his new chair role.

Konstakis thanked OpenBet for its trust and lauded Jordan’s incredible contributions to the company. He said that he was looking forward to taking on the new role and helping OpenBet enter its next phase of growth.

We have an exceptional customer base, a great team and significant opportunities ahead of us. My focus will be on building on those strengths, bringing even greater pace and focus to the business and making sure we continue to set the standard in the markets we serve.