Though Californians looking to place bets on the upcoming Super Bowl LIX are limited by state law banning the practice, a couple loopholes appear to let bettors wager legally.
Gambling in California is mostly limited to daily fantasy-style betting, where bettors build a “team” of players and bet if they will achieve certain statistical goals or not.
Betting on, say, the Eagles to win next month’s Super Bowl in New Orleans isn’t allowed. At least, it’s not allowed as a sports bet in California, but a prediction market? That’s totally OK.
As detailed by Axios, Kalshi is not considered a sports betting app, as it is regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
Despite that designation, you can still bet on who will win the Big Game, as well as some common prop bets like which companies will run Super Bowl ads and which songs Kendrick Lamar will perform at the halftime show.
Other prominent prop bets, like the coin flip and length of the performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” did not appear in a search of Kalshi as of Friday morning, and unlike traditional sportsbooks, there is no betting against the spread.
There is, however, a slight but clear favorite among Kalshi users: About 53% think the Kansas City Chiefs will win, while the other 47% are going with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Super Bowl LIX kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 9 and will be broadcast on Fox.
