Kalshi is boldly going where state-regulated sportsbooks have gone before, into the business of offering point spreads, totals, and player props.
- Kalshi is entering territory typically dominated by state-regulated sportsbooks
- The legality of these new contracts remains uncertain
- Kalshi also says it aims to challenge the illegal sports betting market
The federally regulated prediction market announced on Monday that it is expanding its buffet of sports event contracts. Regulatory filings posted on Kalshi’s website show those new contracts will include point spreads, totals (Over/Under), and touchdown scoring props, such as a player finding the endzone at any time during a game.
Kalshi, regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), says the expansion is to meet the “surging demand” for legalized and regulated sports “trading” and challenge the multibillion-dollar illegal sports betting market.
See live odds and trade https://t.co/ztShxv55x4 pic.twitter.com/SXVnEPyMUN
— Kalshi Sports (@KalshiSports) August 4, 2025
The legality of Kalshi’s sports event contracts, which allow for de facto sports wagering in all 50 states, is being challenged itself by regulators of online sports betting in the U.S.
It is also possible (albeit unlikely) the CFTC challenges the latest contracts offered by Kalshi, as they are “self-certified” by the company, not by the regulator.
However, the expansion announced on Monday suggests the prediction market is feeling confident enough to go beyond the moneylines and futures it already offers and deeper into territory that should be familiar for any sports gambler. The new contracts also come just ahead of football season, a crucial time for bettors and bookmakers.
“Bringing these markets under CFTC oversight gives consumers the same level of protections as Wall Street traders and institutions”, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said in a press release. “Kalshi is bringing more liquidity, efficiency, and price competition to markets on the $400 billion sports industry, and our traction so far is testament to that.”
Kalshi and others have indeed been making gains with their sports event contracts, even if the trading of those products is still a far cry from the amount of betting that happens with state-regulated sportsbooks.
On Monday, Kalshi said it has facilitated more than $6 billion in total trading volume since its founding, approximately $2 billion of which is tied to the sports event contracts the company has rolled out over the past seven months or so.
To compare, online sports betting sites in New York handled more than $2 billion in bets in both April and May of this year.
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Kalshi also took care on Monday to point out the economic importance of the sports industry, as that could be key to the determinations of the CFTC and federal judges.
The prediction market, for example, noted the "margins of victory influence television ratings, affecting the $30 billion projected for sports television and streaming rights of the big four leagues."
“Kalshi’s granular markets allow consumers the ability to hedge around these real-world dynamics, turning athletic performance and game outcomes into actionable insights — safely and transparently,” the company added.
