Prediction Market Kalshi Launches Sports Betting

Kalshi filed with the CFTC to list Super Bowl betting odds. Industry observers wonder whether exchanges could disrupt traditional sportsbooks.

The trading exchange filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday to put up odds on Super Bowl futures.

This comes weeks after competing exchange Crypto.com did the same. The CFTC asked Crypto.com to take down the odds pending the regulatory review, but the exchange rebuffed the request. As Front Office Sports noted previously, Crypto.com is sensitive about labeling the market as sports betting, instead referring to them as event contracts that are traded as derivatives and regulated by the CFTC. In markets outside of sports, Kalshi has specifically referred to customers’ risk as bets.

The CFTC, which regulates the U.S. derivatives market, will flip from majority Democrat to Republican when chairman Rostin Behman leaves the commission. Commissioner Caroline Pham was appointed acting chair by President Donald Trump last week.

Kalshi successfully fought CFTC regulation to post presidential election betting odds last year. Founded in 2018, the exchange offers trading on anything from who will win the Oscar for Best Picture to whether Trump will buy Greenland. Its backers include VC firms Sequoia, Neo, Y Combinator, Mantis VC, and private equity maven Henry Kravis.