Kalshi Gains 3 Million Users During World Cup but Sees Lower Trading on Non-Match Days

Kalshi acquired 3 million new users during the World Cup period as the platform ran co-branded stadium advertisements, celebrity endorsements and a ChatGPT integration. The company partnered with ADI Predictstreet, the tournament's official prediction market sponsor, to place joint ads inside venues.

It also linked with OpenAI last week so that users searching for match information on ChatGPT saw Kalshi contract odds.

Kalshi featured Croatian player Luka Modric and former Real Madrid coach José Mourinho in separate advertisements. A separate agreement with the Argentina national team produced a feature in an Instagram post by Lionel Messi. Additional spots included actor Timothee Chalamet, released in June, and Colombian singer J Balvin, released in July.

One advertisement showing former professional players in a scrimmage was conceived, produced and released within 24 hours on a Friday. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said the company's volumes track the news cycle and that the World Cup effort centered on rapid creative responses to events. Trading activity on non-match days remained lower than on days when games occurred.

Mansour stated that Kalshi expects recurring activity after the tournament driven by other global events. Vijay Viswanathan, associate dean of integrated marketing communications at Northwestern University, noted that soccer reaches nearly every country and offers the largest addressable market of any sport.

Elizabeth Johnson, executive director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania, said the campaign aims to highlight the everyday presence of prediction markets beyond sports enthusiasts.