Kalshi Launches Betting On College Football Games
You will be able to bet on college football games at Kalshi this fall.
As of Tuesday night, the prediction market platform listed 32 games where users could bet on the winner. The highest-profile game available is Texas at Ohio State on Aug. 30 — those are two of the favorites to win the national title.
The idea that Kalshi would get into college football betting was perhaps a fait accompli. After all, Kalshi had already posted markets for NFL single-game betting, and it took bets on single college basketball games during March Madness.
Still, this pushes the envelope further into college sports betting, which remains more controversial than many other markets Kalshi offers.
Here’s some context on Kalshi’s foray into college football:
While sports betting has expanded significantly over the past seven years, many states still impose restrictions on college betting through legal sportsbooks. That includes everything from bans on college betting — in Oregon, you can’t bet on college sports online, but you can at a tribal casino — to restrictions on betting on in-state teams or games played within state boundaries.
Meanwhile, Kalshi allows anyone 18 and over to bet in all 50 states; the age for sports betting is generally 21.
We’re also likely to see these games available for betting via the financial app Robinhood.
The NCAA has remained largely silent on the rapid expansion of sports betting via prediction markets. While some pro leagues have submitted letters to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the NCAA — which oversees college athletics — has not.
A deal with IC360 will likely serve as the firewall to prevent athletes and others associated with athletic programs from trading on game outcomes. Here are the trading prohibitions listed for the college football markets at Kalshi:
The following are prohibited from trading this contract:
Current and former players, coaches, and staff of the league, association, or organization(s) governing the event. For college leagues/associations specifically, or where otherwise appropriate (as identified by the Exchange), this applies to current and former players/coaches/staff of the specific teams in <event> rather than the league/association as a whole (e.g., if the Division I Gonzaga Men’s Basketball Team is playing in <event>, this prohibition will restrict trades by current/former players of that team, rather than all current/former players/coaches/staff in any NCAA sport).
Paid employees of the league and league participants
Owners of teams and the league
and household members and immediate family of all above
How effective Kalshi is at preventing prohibited traders is at least somewhat of a question after a candidate for governor of California bet on himself.
So far, the only markets at Kalshi are moneyline equivalents, where you bet a team to win or lose. In college football, there are many lopsided games where the winner is often not in doubt before or during the game.
College football is much more a sport about betting point spreads, but there will still be a number of close games every week that should create sizable trading volume at Kalshi.