Kalshi Is Still Marketing Itself as 'Betting'
Meanwhile, hundreds of tribes and dozens of states are supporting New Jersey in its case against Kalshi via amicus briefs.
Guess what: Kalshi is still telling everyone it’s a place where you bet.
Recent Instagram ads from the prediction markets platform show that it is still not distancing itself from betting terminology.
I’ve written about Kalshi referring to itself as “betting” a couple of times in the past (Ten Times Kalshi Said People Could Bet On Things | More Times Kalshi Said You Could Bet On Things: An Update; the former has appeared in several legal briefs).
The wildest thing about the whole Kalshi arc of the past six months, at least to me, is:
Kalshi constantly referring to itself and marketing itself as “sports betting” or just “betting” in late 2024 and 2025.
Starting to scrub some of that betting language from the internet as it started getting cease-and-desist letters from states.
Kalshi distancing itself from gambling terminology, culminating in CEO Tarek Mansour telling Axios: “I just don't really know what this has to do with gambling.”
Kalshi continuing to refer to betting in interviews and marketing anyway.
As long as they keep doing this, I’ll keep documenting it for posterity. If the idea is that there is some meaningful difference between “gambling” and “betting,” that isn’t a serious argument.
You can see one of the Instagram ads here, which twice talks about it as betting:
An aside: This may be some of the worst acting in the history of acting.
Here’s another ad about betting on the NBA Finals. While betting isn’t mentioned in the audio, Kalshi did at one point include this text:
BIG NEWS!
You can now bet on basketball and WIN CASH
Legally, in all 50 states with Kalshi!
Ready to turn your picks into profit? Click here.
Also this very serious person is holding stacks of cash while telling everyone what to bet on:
News update on Kalshi vs. New Jersey
On Tuesday, lots of entities entered amicus briefs in support of New Jersey in the federal court case between NJ and Kalshi. Kalshi is trying to stop New Jersey from enforcing its cease-and-desist saying it’s illegal sports betting. Kalshi won a preliminary injunction, but New Jersey quickly appealed the case to the Third Circuit.
Click through for more details, but the American Gaming Association, 34 states(!) and groups representing hundreds of tribes offered their support.
