Kalshi removed betting markets tied to athlete injury durations from its app on Tuesday. The prediction market company’s federal regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), asked it to do so, a source at the agency told Sportico.
As Sportico previously reported, the prediction market company has facilitated at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in wagers connected to player health in 2026, capitalizing on the uncertain statuses of marquee stars like Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards and Malik Nabers as it likely collected at least $8,000 in fees from those bets, based on its published fee formula.
Critics warn injury bets commoditize sensitive medical information, put health care providers at greater risk of harassment and are vulnerable to manipulation.
Kalshi pared back injury betting for much of the summer, and for a while, injury markets tied to Nabers and tennis star Carlos Alcaraz were the only ones visible in Kalshi’s app. The company appeared to embrace injury betting again in recent weeks by rolling out a wide variety of NFL “player availability” markets. Now, the bets have come to a complete stop.
The NFL, one of the few major sports leagues without a prediction market partnership, has expressed concern toward some of the bets Kalshi has offered or proposed, including the injury markets and a plan to allow bets on weather delays. NFL communications director Tim Schlittner told Sportico in an email that the league “made it crystal clear we do not approve of these markets.”
