Prediction markets platform Kalshi said trading volume on Super Bowl Sunday surpassed $1 billion, marking a 2,700% increase from a year earlier and setting a new daily record for the company.
Total volume for Super Bowl week reached $2.8 billion, underscoring growing interest in event-based contracts.
In an interview with CNBC, Chief Executive Tarek Mansour said, “It was an incredible weekend. Kalshi was the biggest brand of the Super Bowl this year, without running a Super Bowl ad, and the way we achieved that is the product.”
Kalshi allows users to trade contracts on the outcomes of events across politics, pop culture, financial markets, and sports. While the game itself drove significant activity, non-sports contracts linked to the event accounted for a large share of turnover.
According to Needham analyst Bernie McTernan, four of the top seven Kalshi markets tied to the Super Bowl were unrelated to the game’s on-field action, including the first halftime song, advertisements during the broadcast, halftime performers, and celebrity guests.
Contracts on halftime performer Bad Bunny’s opening song generated more than $100 million in volume, Mansour said, while bets on which artists would join him on stage exceeded $45 million.
Trading also intensified as the game unfolded. Pre-game volume on the eventual winner stood at $361 million and climbed to $499 million by the final whistle, reflecting users moving in and out of positions during live play.
Kalshi’s surge in activity was not without technical strains. Co-founder Luana Lopes Lara said on social media that some users experienced delayed deposits due to heavy traffic during the game. “Your money is safe, and on the way, it will just take longer to land,” she wrote.
Thank you all for your patience yesterday.
The traffic spike was way bigger than our most optimistic forecasts, so a portion of deposits got delayed.
We want to make it right: we’ve reimbursed processing fees on those deposits and added credits to those who experienced delays. https://t.co/fbawfnljgD
— Luana Lopes Lara (@luanalopeslara) February 10, 2026
The company has faced heightened scrutiny alongside other prediction market operators amid concerns about insider trading. Last week, Kalshi said it was expanding surveillance and enforcement measures to detect and remove accounts engaged in improper trading.
“The insider trading risk is very real for the stock market as well,” Mansour said. “As a regulated financial market by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, we have the same rules as the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, and we have the same mechanism of enforcement.”
Over the past year, Kalshi has conducted 200 investigations, frozen related accounts, and referred some cases to law enforcement, according to the company.
Analysts also pointed to improved pricing compared with traditional sportsbooks during Super Bowl week. Citizens Equity Research analyst Jordan Bender said Kalshi’s average pre-game vig, including transaction fees, was 4.35%, about 3% better than DraftKings and FanDuel on average.
On tracked parlay-style combinations, Kalshi’s implied vig was 23.7%, roughly 4% better than pricing at the two major sportsbooks, excluding transaction fees, Bender added.
The Super Bowl appeared to boost the broader prediction market sector as well, with sports gaming apps such as PrizePicks and Underdog ranking among the most downloaded during the game.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2026/02/11/117551-kalshi-says-super-bowl-trading-volume-tops-1-billion-up-2-700-yearonyear
