Kalshi Files to Offer Football Player Props, Sides, Totals

• Filings arrive ahead of start of football season
• Certain to intensify competition with sportsbooks
• Contracts will go live unless CFTC blocks move or requests 90-day review period

In a move certain to that ratchet up competition with sportsbook operators, Kalshi filed to offer football event contracts that are essentially bets on spreads and totals as well as player propositions.

The prediction markets firm filed three documents Monday with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), its federal regulator, to offer derivatives contracts that closely resemble some of the most popular pregame wagers football bettors embrace. Those contracts are as follows: Will <game> have <over/under> <count> points in <time period> of <game>, Will <team> win <game> by <above/below/between/exactly/at least> <count>points? and Will <player/team> score <first/last/any/count> touchdown(s) in <time_period>of <game>?

As of this writing, the contracts aren’t showing on Kalshi’s football menus, but the filings indicate those bets could imminently appear on the platform provided the CFTC doesn’t object or seek a 90-day review period. Timing is of the essence because college football’s week zero commences this weekend with some marquee games, and the 2025 NFL season starts on Thursday, September 4.

Kalshi Upping Competition with Sportsbooks

Despite mounting state-level legal tussles that have largely centered around its offering of sports event contracts, Kalshi (and other prediction firms) has argued that those derivatives aren’t comparable to traditional sports wagers.

Gaming industry observers and regulators take issue with Kalshi’s point of view on the matter. To date, the exchange’s yes/no sports offerings have been largely akin to moneyline bets, but the foray into player props, sides, and totals represents the prediction market operator’s boldest encroachment yet into territory long controlled by traditional sportsbooks. The Kalshi filings with the CFTC indicate the firm will offer the new derivatives in its standard yes/no fashion.

If the Market Outcome is ‘Yes,’ meaning that an event occurs that is encompassed within the Payout Criterion, then the long position holders are paid an absolute amount proportional to the size of their position and the short position holders receive no payment,” according to one of the CFTC filings. “If the Market Outcome is ‘No,’ then the short position holders are paid an absolute amount proportional to the size of their position and the long position holders receive no payment.”

Critics are apt to say Kalshi can dress up these derivatives as yes/no contracts, but that doesn’t obfuscate a deeper push into the world of sports betting.

Prediction Markets Hardly Treading Lightly

Football is the most wagered-on sport in the US. Companies such as Kalshi know as much, and it appears they’re looking to the 2025 football season as a potential inflection point — one that could expand their revenue streams while increasing competition with old-guard gaming companies.

In some circles, there’s talk that sports parlays — high hold bets for gaming companies — are among the next logical steps for prediction markets. Should that scenario play out, it would extend the competition with standard betting firms and likely compel some of those operators to venture into prediction markets.