Prediction market platform Kalshi is advertising that sports betting is now legal in California and Texas.
The company, which allows users to bet on almost anything, including major esports competitions, has ramped up its advertising during the new football season.
One ad being shown on Facebook shows a fake newspaper article with the headline, “Breaking News: Sports Betting Is Now Legal In California”. Beneath the headline is the tag, “New York-headquartered prediction market Kalshi has legalized sports betting in all 50 states”.
A Kalshi Facebook ad
The company has similar ads replacing California with Texas, Minnesota, Washington, and Florida.
Another prominent ad campaign shows text messages exchanged between friends. In addition to promoting football betting, the ads also say, “you can literally bet on politics too it’s wild”.
Another advert from the prediction market platform
Despite advertising that you can bet on events at Kalshi, the company continues to argue in court that it is not a betting platform.
Last week, Massachusetts’ Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the company alleging it is violating sports betting laws. Kalshi also has active court cases against state regulators in Nevada, New Jersey, and Maryland. Additionally, tribal groups have sued the company in California.
Markets Increasing Under Minimal Regulation
Kalshi has been able to expand the range of markets available on the site through self-certification. The company is licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which requires platforms to notify it when new market types are activated.
Recently, it has self-certified parlays, prop betting, totals, and point spreads for football. It already has political markets, esports, crypto, and several other categories.
The platform also moved to 24-hour trading, and despite state regulators’ best efforts, it remains available in all 50 states.
A Kalshi board member, Brian Quintenz, has been nominated by Donald Trump to lead the CFTC. Under the Trump administration, the regulator has shown no signs of stopping the continued expansion of prediction markets.
Previously, when Joe Biden was president, the CFTC objected to Kalshi’s election market. It was temporarily taken down, but Kalshi won a court battle to have it reinstated.
The market saw record trading volumes, and Donald Trump Jr. joined as a Kalshi advisor after the election. He cited the platform’s ability to predict victory for his father as the reason he joined the company.
The amount traded on the NFL this season is surpassing the election markets, and with an aggressive advertising strategy, those numbers look set to rise.