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Read Full BioKalshi is increasing its focus on sports markets by recruiting experienced sportsbook operators and targeting college campuses to appeal to new users.
The prediction market platform posted a job advert on its site for a new role in Sports Operations.
Part of the job description includes, “Sportsbook Operations Excellence: Leverage deep understanding of how sportsbooks operate to identify market opportunities, understand edge cases in settlement scenarios, and ensure our markets capture the sophistication that sports traders expect.”
And one of the key qualifications required is “Extensive experience with sportsbooks.” The need for sportsbook knowledge and experience comes as the site sees rapid growth in sports markets.
NFL Sees Record Trading Volume
The company reached over $1 billion in monthly trading, driven by football markets. For NFL Week 2, the site saw 588,520 trades. That surpassed the previous record set by the presidential election.
The range of markets now rivals many sportsbooks with totals, point spreads, parlays, and prop markets. It is therefore no surprise that the company is hiring individuals with sportsbook experience.
In noting the record levels of trading volume, Kalshi also stressed that financials and economics are also areas where the site is seeing growth. The market on the September Federal Reserve decision processed $91 million in volume, more than the previous five Federal Reserve decision markets combined.
This pales in comparison to NFL markets, however. For the Chiefs-Giants game on Sunday, there was over $37 million traded. Over 80% of total trading is now on sports.
In court battles, Kalshi continues to argue that it is not offering sports betting; however, its advertising promotes the perception that it has effectively legalized sports betting in all 50 states.
Kalshi Targets College Campuses to Expand User Base
While Kalshi can target states that have not yet legalized sports betting, it can also focus on those under the legal betting age in many states. To use the platform, users must be over 18 years old, not 21, as is the betting age in most states.
Filling a gap in the market, the company launched the Kalshi Ambassadors Program, which aimed to recruit individuals on college campuses to lead promotional drives. The ambassadors page on the site has now been deleted.
A now-deleted post on X also wrote, “Excited to welcome Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, Penn, Cornell, UVA, Michigan, Texas, Stanford, and NYU clubs into our ecosystem to both trade and build.”
The post added, “College campuses are the best place to spark new financial movements and will play a key role in bringing the next 100M users to prediction markets.”
After sparking criticism, the campaign has been removed from social media and the site. The NCAA said it is “deeply concerned” about the possibility of trading on college football on prediction market platforms.
The organization holds little power to stop the continued expansion of sports markets. States and tribes have ongoing court battles, but there does not appear to be any resolution on the horizon in the near future.
