More than $1.2 billion traded on the platform's World Cup winner contract, a record for a single market on Kalshi
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Kalshi added 3 million new users over the course of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the prediction market platform told CNBC. The contract asking traders to pick the tournament winner crossed $1.2 billion in trading volume, setting a platform record for any single market. The contract settled after Spain's 1-0 victory over Argentina in Sunday's final.
Total World Cup volume on Kalshi exceeded $12 billion.
To drive the growth, Kalshi pursued a range of marketing partnerships during the tournament. It teamed with ADI Predictstreet, the official prediction market sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026, for co-branding placements in stadiums, on television, and online, Kalshi announced. The platform also partnered with OpenAI to display its contract odds when users searched for match information on ChatGPT, according to CNBC.
Soccer-focused campaigns included deals with Croatian player Luka Modric, longtime Real Madrid coach José Mourinho, and the Argentina national team. That arrangement earned Kalshi a mention in an Instagram post by Lionel Messi. The company also ran ads with actor Timothée Chalamet and Colombian singer J Balvin to reach audiences beyond soccer fans.
Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour described the marketing approach as one centered on speed and relevance. "Our volumes are where the news is at," Mansour said.
Vijay Viswanathan, associate dean of integrated marketing communications at Northwestern University, said that soccer's global reach makes the World Cup a matchless opportunity. "It's played in about every country in the world," he said, "so in just terms of the total addressable market, there's really nothing that comes close to the FIFA World Cup."
Kalshi now faces the challenge of converting those new users into repeat traders. Volume on days without World Cup matches has been lower than on match days, a pattern Mansour acknowledged. He said the same cycle has followed past major events, with volume dipping before other catalysts push it higher.
Sports event contracts introduce legal exposure as well. A running battle between federal authorities and multiple state governments centers on whether such contracts amount to sports betting, which states have traditionally overseen. The dispute escalated to the point where the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed suit against Kentucky this year.
Brian Sung, a partner at law firm Haynes Boone, said that no amount of advertising will steer judicial outcomes, though the campaign does color how politicians and the general public think about prediction markets.
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