Kalshi to Become a World Cup Partner as It Pursues More Growth

Sports betting has been rocket fuel for Kalshi, with wagers on athletic endeavors propelling the company’s revenue and valuation.Now, Kalshi, a prediction market giant, is set to gain more prominence on one of the biggest athletic stages: the World Cup.Kalshi is expected to announce on Friday that it has become an official partner of FIFA, thanks to a branding and product deal with the World Cup’s existing prediction market partner, the little-known platform ADI Predictstreet.The move is Kalshi’s latest effort to use the world’s most popular sport to propel growth as it races to scale.Investors valued the company at $22 billion last month — up more than fourfold since October — on the back of its huge growth.

And it has been ramping up the ability for Wall Street investment firms to operate on its platform.The partnership Kalshi plans to announce means that its brand will be plastered on ads surrounding the field at World Cup matches and on TV and online.The logo for ADI Predictstreet, an Abu Dhabi-based company that formally opened for business shortly before this year’s World Cup, has become a common sight on stadium Jumbotrons and in footage from matches.Yet as Front Office Sports pointed out this week, it has seen only modest betting volumes despite that omnipresence: Some matches have drawn less than $20 worth of bets.Contrast that with Kalshi, which saw nearly $10 billion in betting on the World Cup in the tournament’s first two weeks, a company spokeswoman said.The platform has also recorded more than $1.6 billion in daily volume during the competition, its biggest ever and well above its pretournament levels of nearly $1 billion.The betting surge has boosted Kalshi’s top line, with the company now collecting well north of $2 billion in annualized revenue, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about the company’s finances.The partnership to be announced will also benefit ADI Predictst...