On March 9, 2026, in Creteil, France, the Kalsi logo appears on a smartphone placed on a reflective surface, with a blurred betting curve projected in the background, during a major betting scandal and $54 million lawsuit related to the recent strikes in Iran.
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup caused a spike in trading volumes in prediction markets across platforms. And for Kalsi, it gained millions of new users.
Kalsi gained 3 million new users during the tournament, the company shared with CNBC.
Kalsi’s contract, which asks traders to predict the World Cup winner, has traded more than $1.2 billion, a unique market record. The market officially closes on Sunday after Spain and Argentina play the final for the title.
“I don’t think there’s a game like football,” said Vijay Viswanathan, associate dean of Northwestern University’s School of Integrated Marketing Communications, about soccer. “It’s played in almost every country around the world…so in terms of the total addressable market, there’s nothing quite like the FIFA World Cup.”
Argentina fans react after their team scores against Egypt during a FIFA World Cup match party at Cerveceria La Tropica on July 7, 2026 in Miami, Florida. Argentina and Egypt are playing their Round of 16 match in Atlanta.
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During the World Cup, Kalsi has made several moves to enhance his brand. These include a partnership with ADI Predictstreet, the official prediction market sponsor of the World Cup, which will feature co-branded advertising within the stadium. The company also partnered with OpenAI last week to feature its contract odds when users search for tournament matches on ChatGPT.
However, there are also a number of ads featuring major figures in the world of soccer, including Croatian soccer star Luka Modric, long-time Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho, and even a partnership with the Argentina national team. The deal saw the company featured in superstar Lionel Messi’s Instagram posts.
“Our volume is where the news is going,” said Karshi CEO Tarek Mansour, who plays a leading role in guiding Karshi’s marketing strategy. “That’s a lot of part of our approach heading into the World Cup. … The most important thing is being able to be creative based on what’s going on.”
Speed is also important. Mansour said the ad, which debuted Friday and features former professional soccer stars scrimmage, was conceived, created and released in 24 hours.
However, Kalsi also launched advertisements featuring celebrities outside of soccer during the tournament. An ad starring actor Timothée Chalamet was released in June, and around the same time Chalamet was attracting attention for his appearance at a New York Knicks game during the NBA Finals, an ad featuring Colombian singer J. Balvin was released this month.
“This is also a way to say to them, ‘Oh, but we’re also relevant to other people who may not be that interested in sports,'” said Elizabeth Johnson, executive director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. Johnson also teaches visual marketing classes at the university. “They’re trying to seize this moment to remind people that these prediction markets are ubiquitous.”
Leaning too heavily on sporting events also comes with risks. Sports event contracts have come under scrutiny in disputes between the federal government and states. The states argue that these contracts amount to state-controlled sports betting.
Kalsi agrees with the federal government that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates swaps and derivatives, has the sole authority to regulate prediction markets.
Tarek Mansour, co-founder and CEO of Karshi, speaks on CNBC’s Squawk Box on June 24, 2026.
CNBC
But Mansour dismissed those concerns, saying sports contracts were simply under pressure from betting companies worried about losing their existing dominant positions.
Brian Sun, a partner in Haynes Boone’s derivatives and digital assets practice group, said he doesn’t think advertising strategies will influence future court rulings, but he said it will influence how prediction markets are viewed.
“It certainly weakens their visibility in public life and politics,” he says. “They’re really trying to push back against the idea that it’s just about sports, which is where the majority of what they do is.”
Kalsi is currently working on converting these 3 million new users into persistent traders, which can be a challenge. Trading volumes on days when World Cup matches are not being played are significantly lower than on days when matches are being played.
Mansour added that this cycle has happened before. In other words, big events push up trading volume, which then only temporarily declines and continues to rise relative to other events.
“You should believe there will be no news after Sunday,” he said. “Maybe…but what’s more likely is that there’s a lot going on in the world and Kalsi is there to deal with it.”
Disclosure: CNBC and Kalsi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and minority ownership.
