"America's new love affair with gambling reached a crescendo on Super Bowl Sunday, when federally regulated prediction market Kalshi processed an eye-popping $871 million in trading volume-most of it tied to the NFL's biggest game of the year. The haul capped a weekend that also saw the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13, but the more telling scoreline may have been the one between old-line sportsbooks and a new generation of finance-flavored betting apps."
"The gambling revolution took off around 2018, when platforms such as DraftKings and FanDuel rode a wave of state-by-state legalization, and the old stigma separating professional sports and gambling broke away dramatically. Long a feature of European soccer, with gambling sites sponsoring football clubs' kits, the Paddy Powerization of America led to gambling partnerships with sports brands including ESPN, the NBA, and the NFL."
"Now, data from Wall Street analysts and industry researchers suggest the grip of the sportsbook is loosening as Americans flock to "events contracts" on exchanges such as Kalshi and its crypto-native rival Polymarket, which let users wager on everything from playoff results to interest-rate cuts and presidential politics. On Kalshi, sports-linked contracts have shifted from an experiment to the center of the business, with football alone accounting for roughly 90% of trading volumes in recent months."
Federally regulated prediction market Kalshi processed $871 million in trading volume on Super Bowl weekend, with total volume across related markets exceeding $1 billion and roughly a fifth of that action coming via parlays. Platforms such as DraftKings and FanDuel expanded after 2018 amid state-by-state legalization, erasing much of the old stigma around sports gambling and spawning major partnerships with sports brands. Exchanges like Kalshi and crypto-native Polymarket enable 'events contracts' on sports, interest-rate moves, and politics. Sports-linked contracts, especially football, now represent the bulk of Kalshi's activity, signaling a shift from traditional sportsbooks.
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