AGA estimates under-21 users generated $8.844 billion in Kalshi sports trading

The American Gaming Association (AGA) estimated that Kalshi users aged 18 to 20 generated more than $8.844bn in sports trading volume through 27 October. According to the AGA, the calculation rests on information that Kalshi published on its website and later changed. In that information, the AGA said, Kalshi stated that users aged 18 to 20 accounted for 4% of its trading volume.

The AGA said the minimum age is a central point of its complaint. In many states users must be 21 to bet legally, while prediction markets allow participation from the age of 18. The AGA warned that this difference opens a route to sports betting for young people who could not use the country's regulated betting platforms.

The association recalled that in 2024 Kalshi argued before a federal court that the US Congress did not intend sports betting to be carried out through prediction markets. In the AGA's account, Kalshi later began offering sports-linked contracts presented as financial products, which now make up most of its trading volume. The AGA maintains that platforms such as Kalshi avoid the gambling laws of many states and do not pay state taxes on this activity.

The AGA also criticised Kalshi for arguing before courts and regulators that its contracts are investment products, while regulated gambling treats betting as entertainment. It called on parents, teachers and public officials to inform young people of the risks of treating sports betting as an investment strategy.

According to the AGA, attorneys general in 44 states are pressing prediction markets that offer sports betting to comply with state and tribal gambling laws. The source adds that in Spain the DGOJ has blocked the prediction platforms Kalshi and Polymarket.