Kalshi to offer touchdown props and spreads markets
Prediction market beefs up football offering ahead of NFL season after new self-designated contracts filed with the CFTC come to light
Kalshi is set to launch touchdown prop markets, point spreads, and totals ahead of the 2025 NFL season in a significant expansion of its sports event contracts offering.
The prediction market platform has posted self-certifications for the contract types with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today, August 18.
The move was first reported by Front Office Sports. The markets are not yet live on the Kalshi site.
The markets will replicate popular options offered by regulated sports betting operators and expand Kalshi’s previously simpler market options.
The markets listed on the CFTC site are:
- Will <team> win <game> by <above/below/between/exactly/at least> <count> points?
- Will <game> have <over/under> <count> points in <time period> of <game>?
- Will <player/team> score <first/last/any/count> touchdown(s) in <time_period> of <game>?
Kalshi’s current football markets include futures for single games and divisions, as well as some smaller offers on which player will start as quarterback for specific teams.
As per the filings to offer the contracts, Kalshi said current and former NFL and NCAA players, coaches, and staff would be prohibited from trading.
Other NFL and franchises’ employees, team and league owners, and household members and immediate family of the above would also be barred.
In statements given to Front Office Sports, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said: “Bringing these markets under CFTC oversight gives consumers the same level of protections as Wall Street traders and institutions.”
Head of corporate development and former American Gaming Association SVP Sara Slane told the publication the addition of the markets was a “natural progression” amid “huge consumer demand.”
Posting on LinkedIn, The Event Horizon’s Dustin Gouker wrote: “Here we go: Kalshi is becoming a full-blown sports betting exchange for football season. The prediction market’s football offering will be expanding beyond just who will win the games.
“We aren’t getting parlays… yet. But Kalshi now appears like it will be offering some of the most popular options that sportsbooks do for football games.”
Kalshi achieved a $2bn valuation in June following a Series C funding round and proceeded to partner with xAI in July.
The New York-based business remains under pressure in some states, including Nevada, where it is facing off against state regulators over concerns the product is a form of unregulated sports betting.
In other prediction market news, Robinhood has also launched pro and college football prediction markets, enabling users to trade contracts directly within its own app.
Housed within Robinhood’s Prediction Markets hub, the contracts cover all regular NFL season fixtures, as well as all college Power 4 schools and independents.
The product is currently being rolled out and will be available to all eligible customers in the coming days, while the first group of contracts will cover the opening two weeks of the professional and college-level campaigns, before weekly match-ups are added as the season progresses.
“Football is far and away the most popular sport in America,” explained JB Mackenzie, vice president and general manager of futures and international at Robinhood.
“Adding pro and college football to our prediction markets hub is a no-brainer for us as we aim to make Robinhood a one-stop shop for all your investing and trading needs.”