Kalshi has secured an exclusive agreement with the U.S. Tennis Association to become the US Open’s prediction market platform partner, giving the regulated event-contract operator a high-profile foothold at one of tennis’s four Grand Slam tournaments.
The arrangement took effect immediately ahead of the tournament’s main draw in Flushing Meadows, New York, according to the report. It was completed after qualifying concluded last week, and financial terms were not disclosed. The U.S. Tennis Association owns and operates the US Open, placing the deal under the control of the tournament’s governing body rather than an outside commercial rights holder.
The agreement also restricts competing prediction-market platforms from advertising at the US Open venue or during ESPN’s tournament broadcasts. That provision gives Kalshi exclusive visibility around a major U.S. sporting event that draws a large domestic television audience over two weeks.
Kalshi was not listed among the US Open’s official partners on the tournament website as of Sunday afternoon. A Kalshi blog post published the same day covering women’s singles odds included a disclaimer saying the company was “not affiliated with the U.S. Open or WTA.” Kalshi declined to comment on the agreement, while representatives for the U.S. Tennis Association and ESPN did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A faster move under new USTA leadership
Craig Tiley, the U.S. Tennis Association’s chief executive, was involved in securing the deal for this year’s tournament, according to the report. Tiley took office on July 20.
The accelerated timing stands out because the association had previously been expected to consider prediction-market partnerships beginning in 2027. Finalizing an exclusive arrangement shortly before the main draw suggests the USTA saw immediate commercial value in associating the tournament with event-contract trading, despite the unsettled regulatory status surrounding sports-related markets in several states.
Prediction markets allow users to buy and sell contracts tied to the outcome of future events. In sports markets, the contracts can track outcomes such as a match winner, tournament champion, or other event-specific result. Kalshi offers federally regulated event contracts under the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, though state regulators have challenged whether that federal structure permits the company to offer sports-related products without state gaming licenses.
For the US Open, the partnership creates a direct link between official tournament branding and a company operating at the center of that legal dispute. The exclusivity terms also place Kalshi in a different category from ordinary sportsbook advertising: rival platforms would be prevented from buying comparable promotional access around the event and its ESPN coverage.
Sports partnerships are becoming a competitive battleground
The US Open agreement extends a rapid effort by prediction-market firms to acquire visibility through established sports properties. Novig previously reached an agreement with the New York Mets, becoming the first prediction-market platform to partner with an individual Major League Baseball team.
Kalshi and Polymarket are official partners of the National Hockey League. Polymarket also has agreements with Major League Baseball and the New York Yankees. Kalshi has announced partnerships with the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants.
Those arrangements have made team and league sponsorships a central part of the competition between platforms seeking mainstream recognition. A Grand Slam tennis tournament offers a different type of audience from a local team sponsorship: the US Open reaches national television viewers, international fans and casual sports followers who may be less familiar with event-contract trading.
The report said sports categories accounted for a substantial share of activity on major prediction platforms during August. It estimated that Kalshi, Polymarket and Polymarket US recorded a combined $41.2 billion in trading volume so far this month, with Kalshi accounting for $33.7 billion. The figures underline why sports rights holders have become valuable partners for platforms competing for customers and brand exposure.
Court split clouds the expansion strategy
Kalshi’s sports-marketing campaign is unfolding while federal courts reach different conclusions about the company’s ability to offer sports-event contracts across state lines.
On Friday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Kalshi’s dispute with Nevada that the company had not demonstrated that federal commodities law preempts Nevada’s gaming regulations for sports-event contracts. The ruling gives Nevada a stronger position in its effort to apply state gambling rules to Kalshi’s products.
That decision differs from an earlier ruling by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals involving New Jersey. In that case, the court prevented New Jersey from regulating the same category of contracts, finding that the federal framework governing Kalshi’s designated contract market limited the state’s ability to intervene.
The conflicting outcomes leave Kalshi facing different legal conditions depending on jurisdiction. They also create a difficult backdrop for leagues, teams and tournament organizers considering commercial ties with prediction-market companies. A sponsorship agreement can deliver visibility and new revenue, but the legal status of sports contracts remains subject to further appeals and potential intervention by other courts.
The US Open partnership does not resolve those regulatory questions. It instead shows that major sports organizations are willing to explore prediction-market sponsorships before a national legal consensus has formed. With the tournament beginning under Kalshi’s exclusive banner, the commercial race is moving faster than the courts.
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