According to a Front Office Sports article, Kalshi has an exclusive contract with the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) to become the US Open’s prediction market partner. According to reports, the deal went into force right away, and the US Open main event will start on Sunday at Flushing Meadows, New York. The financial terms were not disclosed. The deal is significant because the USTA is reportedly barring other prediction market platforms from advertising at the tournament venue or on television, including ESPN’s US Open broadcasts.
According to Front Office Sports, the agreement was not formally completed until after the US Open qualifying rounds ended last week. The USTA had originally been expected to consider prediction market partnerships for 2027 and later tournaments. However, USTA CEO Craig Tiley, who took over on July 20, reportedly played an important role in bringing Kalshi on board for this year’s event.
The arrangement appears unusual because of the restrictions placed on competing prediction market companies. Sources cited by the report said the USTA would prevent other platforms from advertising both inside the US Open venue and during television coverage.
There was also some uncertainty surrounding the partnership when the tournament began. Kalshi was not listed as an official US Open partner on Sunday afternoon. A Kalshi blog post published the same day, analysing the women’s singles competition, carried a disclaimer saying the company was not affiliated with the US Open or the WTA.
Kalshi declined to comment on the reported agreement. The USTA and ESPN also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The deal comes as prediction markets increasingly look to professional sports for growth. Kalshi and Polymarket have already secured partnerships with major sports organisations and teams. Kalshi has deals with several Major League Baseball teams, while Polymarket has partnerships with Major League Baseball and the New York Yankees. Both platforms are also official partners of the NHL.
These platforms now rely heavily on sports as a source of engagement. According to figures given by The Block, trade activity on Kalshi, Polymarket, and Polymarket US has totaled $41.2 billion thus far in August. Of that amount, Kalshi contributed almost $33.7 billion.
The growing focus on sports comes despite continuing regulatory challenges. Kalshi is fighting state regulators over whether its sports-event contracts, which are regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, should also be subject to state gambling laws.
The legal situation became more complicated on Friday when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Kalshi in its dispute with Nevada. The court found that Kalshi had not demonstrated that federal commodities law prevents Nevada from applying its gaming regulations to the company’s sports contracts.
The ruling conflicts with an earlier decision by the Third Circuit that stopped New Jersey from regulating Kalshi’s sports contracts. The conflicting decisions could further intensify the debate over whether prediction markets should be governed primarily by federal financial regulators or state gambling authorities.
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