With tennis fans’ attention focused on America’s sole Grand Slam event, Kalshi announced on Monday that it has become the official prediction market partner of the US Open. The deal marks an important collaboration between the country’s most popular CFTC-regulated prediction exchange and the nation’s most prominent annual tennis event.
According to an official notice published by Kalshi on Monday, the prediction platform’s brand will be displayed via on-court signage and US Open digital platforms throughout the course of the event, which began Sunday with the men’s and women’s singles tournaments.
“We’re relentless about keeping tennis at the cutting edge of global sports innovation and fan connection,” USTA CEO Craig Tiley stated in the US Open’s press release. “Partnering with Kalshi gives us an opportunity to pioneer that next generation of fan engagement while ensuring the integrity of our sport.” The partnership will enable Kalshi to incorporate real-time data provided by the International Tennis Integrity Agency into its prediction market fold.
A quick check of the early Tuesday morning in-game market for Martin Damm Jr. against Frances Tiafoe showed that the first-round men’s singles match had attracted over $17.9 million in total trading volume by the time Tiafoe had advanced in the five-set duel, with contract prices that had shifted after each point. The eventual US Open men’s singles “winner” market on Kalshi already has $14 million in trading volume during the opening days of the tournament.
Due to the growing popularity of competitive tennis and the American sports trading “offseason” that occurs in August, before the NFL regular season and MLB postseason begin, tennis matches have become a popular outlet for sports forecasters looking to predict the outcome of events on Kalshi.
Data analytics provided by Ticker Tracker show that tennis has become a clear frontrunner for prediction market sports trading activity over the past 30 days, a fact that makes it a “no-brainer” for platforms like Kalshi to partner with major tournaments, according to industry analyst Dustin Gouker, who is the author of The Event Horizon Substack. Gouker states that the formidable growth of tennis markets is “largely because of the pure volume of matches and the volatility of trading them.”
Major tennis tournaments’ potential for attracting prediction market traders hasn’t been lost on Kalshi executives. “Tennis is one of the fastest-growing sports on Kalshi, with fans using our markets to understand what’s happening throughout the tournament,” said Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour in reaction to the platform’s partnership with the US Open. “We’re proud to partner with the USTA to give fans even more ways to engage with the game they love.”
In early August, Polymarket signed an exclusive streaming rights deal with the ATP Tour, instantly making the platform a go-to destination for sports traders who wanted to watch the action from the Cincinnati Open in-app. The separate Polymarket agreement with the ATP Tour involves the use of Sportradar integrity services to bolster in-game trading capabilities.
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