Kalshi's sports betting prediction market has generated an impressive $249 million in contracts following just the first two rounds of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, demonstrating the platform's growing popularity since its recent partnership with Robinhood.
The Robinhood-partnered platform launched NCAA Tournament markets just one day before the First Four games began in Dayton, Ohio, making the rapid adoption particularly noteworthy. According to Kalshi's website, Duke currently leads as the tournament favorite with a Yes/No price of 30 cents/72 cents, followed by fellow No. 1 seeds Florida (19/82) and Houston (16/85).
The $249 million figure represents approximately 8% of the American Gaming Association's estimated $3.1 billion in legal wagering for this year's men's and women's NCAA Tournaments. For context, this volume nearly matches Kansas's entire March 2024 sports betting handle of $252.9 million, which ranked 19th among states with commercial sports betting.
Kalshi appears to be taking steps toward responsible gaming and integrity measures. According to reports, the company will soon announce a partnership with IC 360, a technology firm that monitors suspicious betting activity for regulated sportsbooks, to provide similar oversight for Kalshi's sports event contracts. This partnership will include integration with ProhiBet, designed to prevent athletes, coaches, and team employees from placing wagers through the platform.
Additionally, Kalshi plans to unveil a "consumer protection hub" offering responsible gaming tools similar to those available in regulated markets, including self-exclusion options (termed "voluntary opt-outs"), temporary platform breaks, and deposit limits (called "personalized funding caps").
Kalshi operates as an exchange platform registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Association (CFTC), which has scheduled roundtable discussions on sports-based prediction markets before the end of April.