Updated
Updated · NPR · Jul 17Kalshi Denies Sportsbook Status as World Cup Betting Surge Shields Billions in Taxes
3 articles · Updated · NPR · Jul 17Summary
- Kalshi has emerged as a dominant platform for World Cup wagering while maintaining that it is not a sportsbook.
- That classification matters because Kalshi’s stance lets it avoid billions of dollars in taxes tied to sports gambling operators.
- The dispute centers on whether a fast-growing event-betting venue should be treated like a conventional sportsbook as sports betting volume surges.
- The World Cup boom is turning Kalshi’s tax and regulatory status into a broader test of how U.S. authorities classify prediction-market betting.
Insights
As Kalshi expands from sports to science, where is the line between market forecasting and illegal insider trading? Kalshi calls it trading, states call it gambling. Who wins the billion-dollar fight for the future of betting?