Why Mainstream Media is Becoming a Customer-Acquisition Channel for Prediction Markets

Prediction markets are becoming mainstream, but what does this mean?

 Well, it’s a unique product in that it's directly built around the news cycle. So, elections, entertainment news, sports, geopolitical events, company announcements, even weather updates, these are stories already gripping the likes of mainstream media, and for prediction markets, offer an already interested audience for their products.

Prediction markets take what's interesting for real-world audiences and find that they do not need to pivot their offerings to acquire a new audience; instead, that audience is already there, and the interest is there. What prediction markets can do now is take that audience and create a new form of engagement surrounding its event contracts. 

 So are prediction markets becoming mainstream, or is the customer-acquisition environment built around mainstream media what’s fueling their popularity? For operators and affiliates, it’s important to keep an eye on these types of platforms because they provide the answer to how you can engage with an audience outside of traditional gambling media.

Prediction markets are much more than financial instruments; they follow a range of media, meaning that wherever they branch out, an audience is already waiting for them. 

The impact of prediction markets

Prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have become powerhouses in their own right over the last couple of years. Prior to the 2024 Presidential Election, they were relatively unknown. Now, well, Kalshi is set to reach a valuation of $40 billion, and Polymarket, on the other hand, is set to reach $21 billion.

 When it comes to monthly trading volume, combined trading on both platforms has soared from just under $5 billion in September 2025 to around $24 billion in April 2026, according to the Pew Research Center. In comparison, sportsbooks averaged a $14 billion monthly handle throughout 2025.  

 While trading volume and sportsbook handle are not directly comparable, they do provide an outline for operators and affiliates to understand how people interact with prediction markets. For example, 80% of Kalshi’s trading volume since July 2024 has been for sports. For Polymarket, sports make up 39% of its trading, politics 32%, and cryptocurrency 20%.

 What we see here is audiences that are not distinct from those of prediction markets alone, but move with mainstream media. 

 The news industry merging with prediction markets

The relationship between prediction markets and mainstream media is one that is rapidly progressing.

Kalshi already has partnerships with multiple news outlets, including CNN and CNBC, bringing its real-time prediction data, ranging from sports to politics, to broadcasts. Polymarket is also partnered with Yahoo Finance.

 The partnerships between prediction markets and mainstream news channels are significant: as prediction markets appear more frequently alongside mainstream journalism, audience interest also increases.

 The news outlet generates interest around the type of story, and the market then provides the transactional outcome. From an acquisition standpoint, the engagement between mainstream media and prediction markets is powerful.

Prediction markets outside of gambling media

Sports betting operators and affiliates, therefore, are good at capturing audience within their industry, for example, someone looking up “Best sportsbooks” is sure to find a specific sportsbook they like.

 The problem is oversaturated competition. Sportsbooks are all competing for the same customer, and it is very unlikely that the same person looking for the best sportsbooks would be tempted to share their wagers across multiple platforms when the first one they find satisfies their needs.

Prediction markets offer a new approach to the equation. Someone who has been following extensive NFL coverage on social media no longer needs to be consistently visiting betting pages to be valuable to an operator.

Prediction markets provide an example of how to cater to a wider audience by focusing on what interests them rather than competing for clicks with other operators.  

 Prediction markets don’t need to generate interest

While sportsbooks continue to compete over the same customers, it’s safe to say that prediction markets don’t need to compete in the same ways. As mentioned before, interest shifts with the news cycle, and that is where prediction markets can profit.

For example, during the 2024 presidential election, politics accounted for 90% of Kalshi’s trading volume and 65% for Polymarket. That wasn’t a coincidence; prediction markets were able to capitalize on what’s trending without needing to cater directly to an audience.

 Prediction markets feed on attention, and that attention is generated through the likes of mainstream media.

 Affiliates need to stop waiting for users to interact with gambling websites

For affiliates and operators, the next step is to move away from the repetitive model of competing for consumers; instead, the goal should be to find them earlier, before they enter the sports betting funnel.

 As consumer preferences change and broaden, they can no longer be captured the same way, depending on what betting category they want to explore. The consumer can now be an investor, an average sports fan, a sports bettor, and a prediction market trader.

Prediction markets understand how consumer interest shifts and can provide accordingly; affiliates and operators need to learn from this. Instead of asking where the bettors have gone, the focus should instead be on where the audience is.

And as we can see from prediction markets, the audience isn’t waiting inside betting websites; they’re centered around mainstream media.