As Major League Baseball's regular season nears its conclusion, Kalshi has secured partnerships with five teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are the two-time defending World Series champions.
On Tuesday, Kalshi announced that it had established exclusive, multi-year branding agreements with the Dodgers and four additional teams: the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants. It is important to note that due to legal restrictions stemming from a lawsuit by the Massachusetts attorney general, Kalshi does not provide sports event contracts in Massachusetts, where the Red Sox are located. The firm's sports markets are currently frozen pending a decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
The Dodgers, Padres, and Giants represent three of the teams situated in California, a state that is becoming increasingly engaged in prediction market activities. Despite sports betting being prohibited in California, residents can still participate in sports trading on these markets.
With this announcement, nearly 25% of MLB teams have partnered with prediction market operators, bringing the total to seven in the league. This follows the New York Mets' partnership with Novig in late July, marking them as the first team in MLB history to collaborate with a prediction market operator. Just prior, Polymarket had finalized a deal with the New York Yankees.
In a statement on X, Kalshi expressed its enthusiasm, stating, "Baseball fans have made Kalshi part of how they engage with the game. We’re excited to keep investing in them and in the sport."
Fans can expect to see the partnership's impacts during the Braves versus Dodgers game on Tuesday night, which is the first of a three-game series at Truist Park. The initiatives will include in-stadium signage along with social media, online, radio, and fan activations.
As the teams clash on Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow (3-0, ERA 2.72) will take to the mound. Kalshi projects a 60% probability that the Dodgers will defeat the Braves. Furthermore, the app gives Shohei Ohtani a 27% chance of hitting a home run, compared to a 20% chance for the Braves’ first baseman Matt Olson. Glasnow has a 59% likelihood of recording at least six strikeouts.
The Dodgers, who are commencing a six-game road trip on Tuesday, will return to their home field on September 1 against the St. Louis Cardinals. As part of this multi-year partnership, the Dodgers will rename the Golden Glove Bar, located beneath the left field pavilion by the Centerfield Plaza, to the Kalshi 435 Club.
Kalshi also plans to offer fans exclusive on-site activations and special offers throughout the season in Centerfield Plaza. The company reported a significant surge in baseball-related trading volume over the past year, increasing nearly 36 times.
Adam Barrick, head of sports partnerships at Kalshi, stated, "The idea is that fans are already engaging with their favourite teams on Kalshi, so it only makes sense to extend that fandom to some of the most beloved baseball teams in America."
Regarding World Series odds, as the Dodgers approached Tuesday's game, they held a 34% chance of winning the 2026 World Series on Kalshi. A $100 wager at those odds would yield a payout of approximately $282. For comparison, the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers had around a 10% chance of winning the championship.
On Kalshi, the Yankees are favored at 24% to win the American League, followed closely by the Tampa Bay Rays at 22% and the Red Sox at 15%. While the Dodgers pursue their third consecutive title, Ohtani aims for his third consecutive National League MVP award. On Tuesday, MLB.com released its latest MVP poll, revealing that Ohtani finished second behind Pete Crow Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs, who received 29 first-place votes. Armstrong has a 67% probability of winning MVP on Kalshi, with Alex Bregman trailing at 1%.
Prior to this season, Polymarket announced a partnership with MLB to become the league’s exclusive prediction market exchange partner, shortly after MLB signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission regarding a framework for prediction markets.
Major League Baseball has yet to comment on the Kalshi agreements, and of the five teams, only the Red Sox offered a brief acknowledgment of the partnership on social media, posting an emoji in support of the deal.
