New research indicates a growing preference among sports bettors for Kalshi over FanDuel, with DraftKings leading the market by a small margin.
A recent survey conducted by Truist Securities asked participants to identify the top product for online sports betting and prediction markets. The results showed that 20% favored DraftKings sportsbook, followed closely by Kalshi at 17% and FanDuel at 15%.
Although Kalshi only entered the sports market last year and has faced legal hurdles, its range of offerings has quickly expanded to include a wide variety of esports markets alongside traditional sports options.
According to Truist analyst Barry Jonas, the factors influencing users’ platform choices vary, with 39% emphasizing overall experience, 19% considering success rate, 13% valuing interface quality, and 11% focusing on rewards.
Kalshi Leading Prediction Market Platform
While both DraftKings and FanDuel have introduced their own prediction market platforms, the survey findings suggest that Kalshi is the preferred choice among users.
“In terms of prediction markets, Kalshi (17%) was deemed to offer the most superior product, followed by DraftKings Predictions (8%), Polymarket (7%), and Robinhood PM (5%), with FanDuel Predicts slightly trailing at 4%,” noted Jonas in a statement to Casino.org.
Notably, prediction markets have gained significant traction in states with limited legal sports betting, with California leading at 16% usage, followed by Texas at 9% and Florida at 7%.
Despite claims from executives at DraftKings and FanDuel that prediction markets are not impacting their market share in states where online sports betting is legal, the rising popularity of these markets has negatively affected their stock prices. DraftKings’ stock has dropped by over 40% in the last six months, while Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, has seen a decline of over 60%. Additionally, tax increases in the UK have further impacted Flutter’s operations.
Prediction Markets Ramp Up Advertising
The American Gaming Association (AGA) has observed an increase in advertising spending by prediction markets, while tribal and state-operated sportsbooks are reducing their ad budgets.
Last year, both DraftKings and FanDuel parted ways with the AGA due to the organization’s opposition to their entry into prediction markets.
In a recent press release, the AGA reported that nearly half of digital sports betting ads now originate from prediction market platforms.
Kalshi has emerged as the most visible sports betting brand in terms of digital ad impressions, with consumers exposed to its ads approximately 5.2 billion times this year, compared to 2.9 billion impressions for FanDuel, the next highest sportsbook advertiser.
The effectiveness of Kalshi’s marketing campaigns is evident in the increased user engagement with prediction markets.
AGA President and CEO Bill Miller expressed concerns about the impact of prediction markets on sports integrity, highlighting the importance of compliance with state and tribal regulations to protect consumers.
Despite the AGA’s opposition to prediction markets, industry growth continues unabated, with Kalshi and Polymarket actively forming partnerships in media, sports, and entertainment sectors.
Notably, Polymarket recently secured a partnership with BLAST, solidifying its position as the official prediction market platform for the organization and signaling growing acceptance of prediction markets within the esports industry.